Systems and methods for customized gaming limits

ABSTRACT

Embodiments are generally directed to facilitating the establishing and/or managing of gaming rules and/or limits associated with players. In some embodiments, third parties may establish and/or manage such rules and/or limits. Some embodiments implement such rules and/or limits by conducting game plays and/or gaming sessions in accordance with such rules and/or limits.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/408,288, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMIZED GAMING LIMITS”,filed Apr. 20, 2006, which is a continuation-in-part that claimspriority and benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/174,432 entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PLANNING ANDCUSTOMIZING A GAMING EXPERIENCE” filed Jun. 17, 2002, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/298,482 entitled“METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PLANNING AND CUSTOMIZING A GAMING EXPERIENCE”filed on Jun. 15, 2001, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND

There are currently over five hundred thousand (500,000) slot machinesin operation that generate more than fifteen billion dollars ($15billion) in annual revenue for United States casinos. Most casinosgenerate more than half of their gaming revenues from slot machines andsome individual casinos offer two or three thousand (2,000 or 3,000)slot machines at a single location. In fact, two (2) different casinosin Connecticut each provide over six thousand (6,000) gaming devices forplayers.

For players, finding a machine that they like can be very difficult. Forexample, a player looking for a “Full Pay Jacks or Better” video pokermachine might spend half an hour or more looking for one, only to findthat the casino does not have one. Such a frustrated player might thenbe tempted to just leave to try another casino. Even upon finding apreferred game, the player may discover that there are elements of thegame that he does not like (e.g., the type font is too small, or thecards are dealt too fast).

Casinos often contain hundreds of security cameras. Most footagegathered through the cameras is of a routine nature. The footage issimply stored on tape and eventually erased without ever being used. Theexpense associated with maintaining and operating so many cameras issignificant.

Many people center entire vacations around casino visits. Manyvacationers must travel significant distances to reach a casino andthus, casinos frequently offer hotel accommodations, resort facilities,restaurants, and shopping, in addition to gaming. Visitors to Las Vegasspend an average of four and three tenths (4.3) days in Las Vegas andmake, on average, only one and nine tenths (1.9) trips there per year.Thus, vacationers have limited time to enjoy gaming.

People may spend weeks planning a vacation, often beginning far inadvance of the vacation. Planning for a vacation builds excitement andanticipation. Planning also allows people to forego logistical and othermundane considerations during the limited time when they would rather beenjoying themselves. In addition, vacationers frequently go through thetrouble of carrying photography and video equipment to capture images toremember their vacation.

It is believed that many people lack self-control over their gamblingbehavior. To curtail problem or compulsive gambling, some states,through legislation and/or regulation, now require casino operators tomanage or consult “self-exclusion” lists of players who voluntarily wishto be banned from casino premises. However, an ongoing need exists foradditional tools that enable players and others to limit and/or managegaming behavior.

Systems and methods to correct and/or remedy these and otherdeficiencies associated with gaming facilities and the use thereof aretherefore provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an example system according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating an alternative example systemaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a centralcontroller according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a casino serveraccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a user terminalaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a gaming deviceaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a marketer deviceaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 7A is a drawing illustrating an example of a preference preparationmenu screen for use with some embodiments.

FIG. 7B is a drawing illustrating an example of a gaming rulepreparation menu screen for use with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a drawing illustrating an example of a preference preparationsub-menu screen for use with some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an exampleuser database for use in some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an exampletrip documentation database for use in some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an examplegaming circle database for use in some embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an examplepreparation database for use in some embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an exampleproduct database for use in some embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to someembodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to someembodiments.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to someembodiments.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Introduction

Some embodiments described herein overcome various drawbacks of theprior art by allowing a user and/or third party to remotely plan and/ordefine various aspects of a gaming and/or gambling experience. In someembodiments, a user may customize the look and feel of a gaming deviceprior to visiting the casino. He may also choose a preferred game, apreferred pay table, preferred odds, win percentages, and so on.According to some embodiments, players, users, and/or third parties mayalso or alternatively set, select, and/or define gaming limits (e.g., toprevent, manage, and/or combat problem gambling).

In some embodiments for example, a user and/or a third party mayremotely select a betting system that prevents or limits, in one or moreways, the user's ability to wager at a casino and/or pursuant to alottery game. For example, in some embodiments, a user may remotelyrecord a preference that limits the total number of wagers that the usermay make at a casino within a given period of time.

In some embodiments, the user and/or a third party may remotely select abetting system that allocates winnings to predetermined accounts, thatincreases and decreases the rate of handle pulls based on gamblingresults, and so on. Remotely selecting a betting system may, forexample, allow a user to follow a predetermined gaming strategy,avoiding tempting deviations while at the slot machine.

In some embodiments, a user may involve friends, relatives, and/or otheracquaintances in his gambling vacation. In some embodiments, a user mayidentify a group of people who are to share in his winnings. The usermay then embark on his vacation with the good wishes of all those whowill benefit from his results. In some embodiments, a user may remotelysubmit e-mail addresses of friends so that the e-mail addresses arereadily available for him at his destination casino. The user may thene-mail his friends as he wins. In some embodiments, a user may alsoremotely set up an account on a casino server or a particular slotmachine, receive an e-mail address for his account, and then let friendsand relatives know where they may contact him.

In some embodiments, a user and/or a third party may remotely set up(e.g., arrange for, specify limits associated with) credit lines so thathe need not carry large amounts of cash to a casino or have to process acredit application while on vacation. In some embodiments a user may bepresented with, and accept, a marketing offer (and thus agree to fulfillany associated obligations) in exchange for casino resort discounts,coupons, complimentary (“comp”) program points, free gambling credits,and/or insurance against gambling losses. In some embodiments a user mayarrange to receive marketing offers at a casino. The user may thenchoose whether or not to accept the marketing offers depending on howmuch he has won or lost at the casino.

In some embodiments, a user may remotely configure a user interface to agaming device. When the user then appears at a gaming device, he maybenefit from the use of areas on the touch screen that allow him to makehis favorite bet, order his favorite drink, accept an offer from amarketer, and so on. Moreover, where a user and/or third party haslimited the player's ability to gamble in one or more ways, certainoptions (e.g., game options, game features, wager amounts, paylines,contract play options, payment processing options) may be disabled ormodified. For example, certain options may be removed from the userinterface or display, or otherwise disabled (e.g., obfuscated, “grayedout”, etc.).

In some embodiments, a user may remotely designate prizes or comps hedesires. A user may remotely submit his intended travel plans, includinghow long he is to stay at a destination, how much he is to gamble, wherehe is to eat, and so on. The user may then receive marketing offersbased on his intentions.

In some embodiments, a user may remotely select a method ofdocumentation for a trip to a casino. He may ask a casino to use itssecurity cameras to take pictures of him when he has won large prizes.He may ask that the casino save the results of particular spins on theslot machine, for later reenactment. The user may then be motivated tospend most of his time at that casino if the user wants his vacationdocumented in a consistent manner.

In some embodiments, a central controller communicates with multipleuser devices, multiple casino servers, and multiple marketer devices. Insome embodiments, a central controller may be operated by an entityother than a casino, such as a governmental entity (e.g., a regulatoryagency; a judicial officer or agent), a commercial service or anoncommercial service (e.g., a nonprofit organization, such as theNational Council on Problem Gambling). The casino servers, in turn, aregenerally in communication with multiple casino devices, includinggaming devices.

In some embodiments, prior to visiting a casino, a user and/or thirdparty may log onto a Web site hosted by the central controller. On theWeb site, the user and/or a third party may prepare for the user's visitto the casino by inputting a gaming device configuration, choosing abetting system, selecting a group of friends with which to sharewinnings, limiting gaming activities, and/or by performing or usingother aspects as described herein. The central controller may thenassociate all the data defining the user's preparations with apreparation code or a user identifier, such as the user's name, a playertracking card number, and/or player's biometric data, and store theuser's preparation data in, for example, a preparation database and theuser identifier in a user database. When the user subsequently visits acasino (and/or other gaming establishment), the user may submit his useridentifier and/or preparation code to any gaming and/or casino device.The device may then contact the central controller via the casino serverand receive the user's preparation data. The casino device may thenmodify its operations in accordance with the preparation data. Forexample, the casino device may execute software for a particular gamethe user has chosen, or may spin the reels at a speed the user haschosen. Further, the casino device may prevent or limit some or allgaming activity by the user at one or more gaming devices.

Also, once a user has submitted his user identifier to a first casinodevice, other casino devices may act in accordance with the user'spreparation data. For example, if a user has asked that pictures of himbe taken when he wins any prize of one thousand dollars ($1,000) ormore, a security camera may focus on the user when he wins any suchprize. Further, if a user has previously instructed the centralcontroller that he does not wish to spend more than one hundred dollars($100) during a given week, then a casino server and/or one or moreother gaming devices may track the user's wagers and prevent gaming atone or more gaming devices once the user has wagered and lost onehundred dollars ($100).

In some embodiments, the central controller and the casino servercomprise the same device. In such a case, the combined centralcontroller/server may be in communication with casino devices atmultiple casinos, or, in some embodiments, may be in communication withcasino devices at only a single casino. In some embodiments, it may bedesirable to configure the central controller/server to communicate withcasino devices at multiple casinos so that a user may be limited orprevented from gambling (e.g., at the casino devices) according to rulespreviously registered by the user and/or a third party. For example, auser may register, through a Web site hosted by the centralcontroller/server, his preference to limit his gambling activity in agiven month. As the user visits one or more casinos within the month,the central controller/server may track the user's gambling activity atvarious gaming devices, and may instruct a casino server and/or gamingdevice to limit the user's ability to gamble, as initially requested.Thus, a user with an actual or perceived propensity to gamblecompulsively may be limited in his ability to gamble at participatingcasinos (e.g., casinos within a given state jurisdiction).

According to some embodiments, a gaming device may be customized by aplayer and/or a third party over the Internet. By logging on to acentral controller, the player and/or third party may be provided with amenu of game types and a series of potential customization options, suchas gaming limits. After providing customization data, the player mayprovide or be given a customization code that can be entered into anyslot machine to reconfigure it with the stored customizations. Forexample, a user may log on to the Internet via a personal computer andaccess a casino Web site for customizing slot machines. The user mayselect from among several game types (e.g., deuces-wild, jacks orbetter, video reel, three reel, five reel, video poker, blackjack, etc.)and proceed to configure the game to his liking. For example, the usermay set a default game denomination, a game starting point, rules formaking automatic play decisions, game rules, a color scheme, a level ofhelp, a bonus frequency, a bonus duration, a speed of reel spin, a fontsize and/or style, a currency type, a sound type, a sound level, alanguage, a currency, a payout structure, a payout amount, a payoutoption, a team option, a comp format, a jackpot probability, a totaldollar limit for wagering within a given period, a total time limit forwagering within a given period, a total number of allowable “visits” toa gaming establishment within a time period (e.g., a player residinglocally to a casino may only place wagers at the casino three (3) out ofevery seven (7) calendar days), etc. After completing the customization,the user may be provided with a customization code or he may provide acustomization code (e.g., a player tracking card identifier and/or abiometric identifier). When the user arrives at a casino and sits downat a slot machine, he enters his customization code (e.g., inserts aplayer tracking card and/or scans a fingerprint) and the game and/ordevice reconfigures itself to the user's previously providedcustomizations.

In some embodiments, information about a user may be used to providetargeted advertising and/or targeted marketing offers to the user. Forexample, a user may log on to a central controller (i.e., thecustomization Web site) and answer a series of questions about himself.For example, he might identify his age, gender, whether or not he owns ahome, the types of magazines he buys, whether he has any children,whether he has any stock investments, his blood pressure and cholesterollevels, his education level, the identity of his long distance phonecarrier, etc. The answers to these questions may be stored along with anassociated customization code and transmitted to the casino server. Whenthe player arrives at a casino and sits down at a gaming device to play,he enters his customization code, which is then transmitted to thecasino server. During the gambling session, if it is determined that amarketing offer should be provided to the player, then the marketinganswers are retrieved and used to better target the marketing offer. Anoffer to switch long distance service from AT&T® to MCI®, for example,might be skipped in favor of another offer if the player is already anMCI® customer.

In some embodiments, the casino may store customization informationabout the player. For example, if the player is a frequent gambler, thecasino might activate a comp payout percentage of two percent (2%)instead of the more typical one percent (1%). In some embodiments,instead of logging on to the central controller, the player may logdirectly into a casino server or a slot machine. The connection might bethrough the Internet or via a direct dial/WAN connection. Customizationdata may be provided as described herein. In this embodiment, the playermight be able to retrieve information from the casino about his play.The player may provide his player tracking identifier (and possibly aPIN code for security) to gain access to his account. The player mayalso check to see how much he has won for IRS tax reporting purposes,for example.

With these and other advantages and features of the invention that willbecome hereinafter apparent, the nature of some embodiments may be moreclearly understood by reference to the following detailed description,the appended claims, and to the several figures included and describedherein.

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanyingfigures that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way ofillustration, specific embodiments that may be practiced. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice such embodiments, and it is to be understood thatother embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical,software, and/or electrical changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of these embodiments. The following description is, therefore,not to be taken in a limited sense.

Applicants have generally recognized that a need exists for systems andmethods that allow users to quickly and easily locate suitable gamingdevices without having to hunt through thousands of other gamingdevices. One particular benefit to users of embodiments described hereinis that users are able to cause a gaming device to instantly conform totheir individual player preferences upon presentation of a customizationor preparation code. The players do not need to waste time wadingthrough an elaborate maze of gaming devices on the casino floor insteadof actually using time to play the games. A second benefit to the useris that marketing offers presented via a gaming device may be much moretargeted and controlled which results in less time wasted by the userhaving to reject offers that are not appropriate or interesting.Further, using the embodiments described herein, a user can greatlyextend the excitement of a gambling vacation. The user has theopportunity to build anticipation prior to the vacation by planningnumerous aspects before hand. He can test various gaming deviceconfigurations to find the one that's just right. He can get his friendsinvolved by signing them up to win if he wins. He can arrange for tokensof good luck or sentimental value (e.g., pictures of pets) to be withhim at the gaming device. The user can also extend the excitement of thevacation on the other end by reviewing a scrapbook and other mementos ofhis trip when it is documented by the casino. The user has theopportunity to optimize his playing conditions and other aspects of hisvacation, without wasting precious time during the vacation. Forexample, a user can determine a good configuration for a gaming devicein advance, and/or determine where in Las Vegas to find a gaming devicecapable of that configuration.

Applicants have also generally recognized that a need exists for systemsand methods that allow users and other third parties to flexiblycustomize rules which prevent or limit some or all the gaming activityof one or more players at one or more gaming devices in one or morecasinos. Current self-exclusion list regimes take an “all or nothing”approach by banning outright voluntarily included individuals from allthe casinos in the given jurisdiction. That is, the self-exclusion listapproach assumes that compulsive or problem gambling is not one ofdegree. Such overbroad restriction on gaming serves to prevent entirelythe gaming of players who may be able to safely or without compulsiongamble at certain games, in certain limits, at certain times, etc., andsuch overbroad restriction thus unduly limits casino revenue potential.Such self-exclusion mechanisms also do not appear to be applicable toother gaming environments such as arcades and/or online gaming of anysort. Accordingly, embodiments described herein provide players withflexibility in limiting or preventing their play at one or more games,devices, and/or casinos.

Applicants have also generally recognized that a need exists for systemsand methods that allow players who have real and/or perceived (e.g.,suspected by a third party) gambling problems to receive reminders andguidance concerning wagering activity at a time substantiallycontemporaneously to the play of a gaming device. Accordingly, disclosedherein are systems and methods that allow players who have real and/orperceived gambling problems to receive reminders and guidance concerningwagering activity at a time substantially contemporaneously to the playof a gaming device.

Applicants have also generally recognized that a need exists for systemsand methods that allow players who have real and/or perceived gamblingproblems to communicate with third parties (such as family, friends,counselors, lenders, creditors, etc.) concerning wagering activity at atime substantially contemporaneously to the play of a gaming device.Accordingly, disclosed herein are systems and methods that allow playerswho have real and/or perceived gambling problems to communicate withthird parties (such as family, friends, counselors, etc.) concerningwagering activity at a time substantially contemporaneously to the playof a gaming device. Communication between players who have real and/orperceived gambling problems and third parties may serve to mitigateproblematic wagering activity (e.g., a problem gambler receives adviceto “slow down”).

Some embodiments may provide many benefits to various entities. Somebenefits to casinos and/or other gaming entities may, for example,include: (i) players no longer leave the casino if they do not findtheir preferred machines; (ii) players play longer when the machine isconfigured for their needs; (iii) players accept more marketing offerswhen they are better targeted; (iv) a casino that allows a user to planand optimize his experience at that casino is very likely to obtain alarge share of the user's business; (v) when a casino documents a user'svacation, the user is more likely to remain at that casino so as to havehis vacation documented in a consistent manner; (vi) when marketers fundportions of a user's gambling activities, the user tends to gamble more,providing greater profits for the casino; (vii) a user who documents avacation may show the documentation to friends, creating new customersfor the casino, and/or (viii) a casino may benefit from the ability toallow players with real and/or perceived gambling problems (and/or thirdparties associated therewith) to flexibly customize rules for wageringactivity (e.g., as opposed to banning such players outright).

Some benefits to gaming device manufacturers and/or other entities may,for example, include: (i) acquiring player customization information isvaluable and useful in developing new gaming devices and (ii)manufactures will sell more customization software for gaming devices. Abenefit some embodiments for a marketer is that when a user submitsinformation about himself, his intentions, his desires, and his worries,a marketer can better target offers to the user. For example if the usersays he is a Mercedes® owner, a marketer can attempt to sell upscaleitems to the user. If the user is worried about losing more than fortydollars ($40), the marketer can offer to offset user losses in excess offorty dollars ($40) in return for the user's business. Some embodimentsallow a player to select the specific types of offers he is willing toconsider from marketers, making the marketer's job much easier.

II. Terms and Definitions

Throughout the description that follows and unless otherwise specified,the following terms may include the meanings provided in this section.These terms and illustrative meanings are provided to clarify thelanguage selected to describe embodiments both in the specification andin the appended claims.

The terms “products,” “goods,” “merchandise,” and “services” shall besynonymous and may refer to anything licensed, leased, sold, availablefor sale, available for lease, available for licensing, and/or offeredor presented for sale, lease, or licensing including packages ofproducts, subscriptions to products, contracts, information, services,and intangibles.

The term “merchant” may refer to an entity who may offer to sell, lease,and/or license one or more products to a consumer (for the consumer oron behalf of another) or to other merchants. For example, merchants mayinclude sales channels, individuals, companies, manufacturers,distributors, direct sellers, re-sellers, and/or retailers. Merchantsmay transact out of buildings including stores, outlets, malls andwarehouses, and/or they may transact via any number of additionalmethods including mail order catalogs, vending machines, online Websites, and/or via telephone marketing. Note that a producer ormanufacturer may choose not to sell to customers directly and in such acase, a retailer may serve as the manufacture's or producer's saleschannel.

The terms “player” and “user” shall generally be synonymous and mayrefer to any person or entity that operates a user device, a gamingdevice (e.g., a gambling device such as a slot machine), and/or a userterminal.

The term “gaming device” or “gaming machine” may refer to anyelectrical, mechanical, electro-mechanical and/or other device that isassociated with providing, facilitating, rendering, executing, and/ordisplaying a game. Such devices may, in gambling contexts for example,facilitate the acceptance of a wager, may follow a process to generatean outcome, and/or may pay winnings based on the outcome. The outcomemay be randomly generated, as with a slot machine; may be generatedthrough a combination of randomness and user skill, as with video poker;or may be generated entirely through user skill. A gaming device mayinclude any gaming machine and/or system, including slot machines, videopoker machines, video bingo machines, video roulette machines, videokeno machines, video blackjack machines, arcade games, video games,video lottery terminals, online gaming systems, sports betting machines,game consoles, personal computers logged into online gaming sites, etc.Gaming devices and gaming machines may also include “smart” tabletechnology, or electronic devices to designed aid casinos in theadministration of table games such as blackjack and poker.¹ Gamingdevices may or may not be owned and/or maintained by a casino and/or mayor may not exist within a casino location. ¹ Typically, such “smarttable” devices are designed to ensure secure and fraud-free table gameoperations by providing accurate wager, accounting and card trackingdata for the dealer. For example, Shuffle Master™ produces theIntelligent Shoe® series of card shoes and sorters for deterring fraudby tracking cards-dealt data. Also, the Tablelink® system fromProgressive Gaming™ uses wireless Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID)technology to track chip information at table games, primarily foraccurate game accounting. These systems are capable of summarizinginformation specific to individual players, including the total amountwagered within a given period of time, player betting decisions, anddealer decisions during the player's sessions. In addition tofacilitating fraud-free gaming, such systems are also used by casinos toadminister comp (reward) programs.

The term “casino device” may refer to any electrical, mechanical,electro-mechanical and/or other device operable to be used in and/orinteract with people at a casino. These may include for example, userdevices, I/O devices, gaming devices, and/or personal computers locatedat hotel registration desks, chip cashing desks, casino pits, and so on.Casino devices may also include such things as security cameras,elevators, music systems, guest room televisions, telephones, beds,mini-bars, door locks, chairs, point-of-sale terminals, etc.

The term “casino” may refer to the owner and/or operator of gamingdevices, owners' and/or operator's agents, and/or any entity who mayprofit from players' use of the gaming devices. Casinos may include, forexample, casino properties, resort casinos, casino hotels, arcades,and/or other gaming establishments and/or entities.

The term “casino location” may refer to the physical geographic site,complex, or building where gaming devices owned and/or operated by acasino are located. In the case of an online casino, casino location mayrefer to the address (e.g., the Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) of theonline casino's Web site or facility.

The term “handle pull” may refer to a single play at a gaming device. Insome embodiments, a handle pull may refer to a single complete game (orhand) or in other embodiments, the term may refer to a play related to asingle wager. For example, in video blackjack, a user might play asingle game in which he splits a pair of sevens, requiring an additionalwager. This single game may be considered to include either one or twohandle pulls. A plurality of handle pulls may generally define a gaming“session”, although a “session” may also or alternatively refer to asingle wager, hand, handle pull, and/or play.

The terms “central controller” and “controller” shall be synonymous andmay refer to any device that may communicate with one or more casinoservers, one or more casino devices, one or more gaming devices, one ormore third-party service provider servers, one or more remotecontrollers, one or more player devices, and/or other network nodes, andmay be capable of relaying communications to and from each.

The term “user terminal” and “remote controller” may generally besynonymous and may refer to any device that may communicate with one ormore central controllers, one or more casino servers, one or more casinodevices, one or more gaming devices, one or more third-party serviceprovider servers, one or more player devices, and/or other networknodes. User terminals may, for example, include pagers, personal digitalassistants, personal computers, laptop computers, handheld computers,telephones (e.g., cellular telephones), kiosks, automated tellermachines, gaming devices, game consoles, and/or vending machines. Theymay be used to access configuration selection programs, to execute suchprograms (in whole or part), and/or to configure gaming devices. Theymay include facilities to support secure communications using encryptionor the like.

The terms “player device” and “user device” shall be synonymous and mayrefer to any device owned or used by a user or consumer capable ofaccessing and/or displaying online and/or offline content. Playerdevices may communicate with one or more central controllers, one ormore casino servers, one or more casino devices, one or more gamingdevices, one or more third-party service provider servers, one or moreuser terminals, and/or other network nodes. In some embodiments, playerdevices may, for example, include gaming devices, personal computers,pagers, personal digital assistants, point-of-sale terminals, point ofdisplay terminals, kiosks, telephones, cellular phones, Automated TellerMachines (ATMs), pagers, and combinations of such devices. They may beused to access configuration or preference selection programs, toexecute such programs (in whole or part), and/or to configure gamingdevices.

The term “input device” may refer to a device that is used to receive aninput. An input device may communicate with or be part of another device(e.g., a point of sale terminal, a point of display terminal, a userterminal, a server, a player device, a gaming device, a controller,etc.). Some examples of input devices include: a bar-code scanner, amagnetic stripe reader, a computer keyboard, a point-of-sale terminalkeypad, a touch-screen, a microphone, an infrared sensor, a sonicranger, a computer port, a video camera, a motion detector, a digitalcamera, a network card, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a GPSreceiver, an RFID receiver, an RF receiver, a thermometer, a pressuresensor, a biometric device (e.g., a fingerprint reader, an iris reader,a topical facial pattern recognizer/reader), and/or a weight scale ormass balance.

In one embodiment, a suitable fingerprint reader for use herein includesthe Fujitsu® MBF200 Scanner, which is manufactured by Tacoma Technology,Inc.™ of Taipai, Taiwan and Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc.™ ofTokyo, Japan. The Fujitsu® MBF200 offers a resolution of five hundreddots per inch (500 dpi), an image capture area of 12.8×15 mm(0.5″×0.6″), and a unit size of 60×40×15 mm (2.4″×1.6″×0.6″). TheFujitsu® MBF200 may communicate with a gaming machine processor througha USB interface. The Fujitsu® MBF200 may be desirable in an embodimentwhere the gaming machine processor is instructed through a Linux-basedoperating system. In embodiments featuring the Fujitsu® MBF200,fingerprint-matching software may be employed. Exemplary fingerprintmatching software includes VeriFinger™ 4.2 from Neurotechnologija, Ltd.™of Vilnius, Lithuania.

In another embodiment, a suitable fingerprint reader includes the AF-S2FingerLoc™ from AuthenTec, Inc.™ of Melbourne, Fla. The AF-S2 FingerLoc™offers a resolution of two hundred and fifty dots per inch (250 dpi), animage capture area of 13×13 mm (0.51″×0.51″), and a unit size of24×24×3.5 mm (0.94″×0.94″×0.14″). The AF-S2 FingerLoc™ may communicatewith a gaming machine processor through a USB interface. The AF-S2FingerLoc™ may be desirable in an embodiment where the gaming machineprocessor is instructed through a Microsoft® Windows®-based operatingsystem. In embodiments featuring the AF-S2 FingerLoc™,fingerprint-matching software may be employed. Exemplary fingerprintmatching software includes VeriFinger™ 4.2 from Neurotechnologija, Ltd.™of Vilnius, Lithuania.

The term “output device” may refer to a device that is used to outputinformation. An output device may communicate with or be part of anotherdevice (e.g., a gaming device, a point of sale terminal, a point ofdisplay terminal, a player device, a merchant device, a controller,etc.). Possible output devices include: a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)monitor, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, Light Emitting Diode (LED)screen, a printer, an audio speaker, an Infrared Radiation (IR)transmitter, and/or an RF transmitter. The term “I/O device” may referto any combination of input and/or output devices.

The term “frequent shopper card” may refer to a device that may becapable of storing information about a consumer who is a shopper. Thisinformation may include identifying information. This information mayalso include shopping history information. The frequent shopper card maybe machine readable, for example, by a Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal.According to some embodiments, a frequent shopper card may store gamingdevice customized configuration information.

The term “player tracking card” may refer to a device that may becapable of storing information about a consumer who is a casino and/orgaming player. Typically, player tracking cards may be accessed bygaming devices and magnetic card readers operated by casino staff. Theinformation stored on the player tracking card may include identifyinginformation, as well as financial information, such as a number ofgambling credits remaining. The card may be machine readable, forexample, by a gaming device. According to some embodiments, a playertracking card may store gaming device customized configurationinformation.

The term “ATM card” may refer to a device that may be capable of storinginformation about a consumer who is a bank customer. This informationmay include identifying information and bank account information. TheATM card may be machine readable, for example, by an ATM. According tosome embodiments, an ATM card may store gaming device customizedconfiguration information.

The term “configuration” may refer to one or more feature values,preferences, limits, authorizations, accessibility rules, and/orselections for the operation of a gaming or other device.

The term “customized configuration” may refer to a configurationdesigned or chosen by and/or for a specific player by the player and/orby a third party such as a relative, friend, counselor, judicialofficer, insurer, creditor, employer, regulator, etc.

The term “configuration data” may refer to a customized configurationand/or information that a device may use to configure itself or anotherdevice. In some embodiments, configuration data may refer to informationabout a player that may be useful to casinos or third parties who mayattempt to configure a gaming device to some degree for the player. Forexample, a marketing company may use the information about a player tocreate a targeted advertisement that may be configured to be presentedto the player via the gaming device. In another example, a regulatoryagency and/or casino may use the information about a player to limit theplayer's ability to wager more than a certain amount of money in a givenperiod of time (e.g., the player may be prevented from gambling morethan five dollars ($5) per day).

The term “preparation data” may refer to any data received from, orrelated to, a user that is descriptive of characteristics of the user'sdesires, aspirations, intentions, expectations, concerns, habits,compulsions, problems, addictions, anxieties, diagnoses, preferences,and/or plans related to his gambling and/or gaming experience orgambling vacation. In some embodiments, preparation data may includeinformation (and/or documentation) useful in (and/or required for)addressing the user's concerns and/or fulfilling the user's desires,aspirations, intentions, expectations, and/or plans. For example,preparation data may include work product, such as a completed surveyform, that the user has produced in exchange for a coupon from amarketing research firm, wherein the coupon is for a free meal at thecasino restaurant at which the user was planning to eat. In anotherexample, preparation data may include answers to questions that a userhas provided through an online user interface, such as a Web page,pertaining to the user's preferences and/or gambling limits (e.g., auser may specify, through a Web page, that he wants gaming machines tostop him from spending more than two hundred dollars per month($200/month) on gambling activities). In some embodiments, preparationdata may also include configuration data.

Preparation data may generally comprise at least two types of data, suchas “preference preparation data” and/or “gaming rule preparation data”.Preference preparation data may generally, for example, comprisepreparation data directed to and/or associated with a customization ofpreference-related features of a gaming device (e.g., screen size,colors, game type, etc.). Gaming rule (and/or gaming limit) preparationdata may generally comprise preparation data that is associated withplacing limits on and/or restricting gaming behavior and/or capabilitiesof a player.

The terms “customization code” and “preparation code” shall besynonymous and may refer to a code used to identify a set of stored orotherwise identifiable preparation data (which may include userpreferences, gaming rules or limits, and other configuration data). Insome embodiments, a customization code may be the player's playertracking card number or other unique or substantially unique identifier(e.g., an identification number; biometric data such as iris data,fingerprint data, topical facial data, etc.). In some embodiments, acustomization code may include actual preparation data and/or an addressof (or a pointer to) preparation data. A pointer to preparation data maybe used, for example, to indicate where, within a casino device'sread-only memory, predefined preparation data for that casino device maybe found. In another example, a pointer to preparation data may be usedto indicate where, within a casino server's memory, configuration datacorresponding to a particular user may be found.

The term “feature” may refer to an individual aspect of the operation ofa gaming (or other) device, or a user's experience with the gaming (orother) device. Individual features might include the reel speed, thepayout percentage, or the contrast of the video screen on a slotmachine. Further, individual features may include limits or rulesgoverning, for one or more specific users, (i) the types of wagers thatmay be allowed (e.g., which paylines may be activated on a slot machine;the maximum wager amount per handle pull), (ii) the maximum net wageramount per period of time, (iii) the maximum net loss amount per periodof time, (iv) the maximum net win amount per period of time, (v) themaximum rate at which handle pulls may be permitted, (vi) the maximumperiod of time for which one or more gaming machine(s) will be operable(e.g., starting from a triggering handle pull), (vii) the maximum numberof handle pulls permitted per period of time, (viii) the days and/orhours that one or more gaming machine(s) may be operable, (ix) thesources of funds that may be used to place wagers (e.g., certain playersmay only play with stored value or debit cards; certain players may onlyplay with “won” money after a threshold amount of cash is wagered), (x)the types of games which may be permitted (e.g., slots only; all gamesexcept video poker), (xi) the identities or types of gaming machineswhich may or may not be permitted (e.g., only on machine number“1234651”; only on twenty-five cent ($0.25) denomination slot machines),and/or (xii) any other gambling attribute. Other features arecontemplated, as discussed herein. A set of features taken togetherrepresents a configuration for a gaming device.

The terms “gambling insurance policy,” “gambling insurance,” and“gambling insurance contract” shall be generally synonymous and mayrefer to an agreement between a user and a casino, and/or between a userand an insurer, with some or all of the following provisions: (i) theuser pays the insurer a fixed amount up front; (ii) the user must make apredetermined number of handle pulls, no more and no less; (iii) theuser need not pay any additional money after purchasing the gamblinginsurance contract; (iv) the user keeps any net winnings after allhandle pulls have been completed; (v) if the user has a net loss afterthe handle pulls have been completed, then the loss amount is paid tothe casino by the insurer and the player is refunded the loss amount.There are many possible variants of these provisions and additionalprovisions are possible. A gambling insurance contract may insure a useragainst excessive losses, and may give the user more handle pulls thanwould otherwise be possible for the price of the gambling insurancecontract. Also, since there may be no additional user decisions requiredafter the user has purchased the gambling insurance contract, the userneed not be present for the execution of the contract.

The term “contract” may include a gambling insurance contract and/or agaming contract in which a fixed number or “block” of handle pullsand/or amount or “block” of time is purchased for a single price. Insome embodiments, these “blocks” of handle pulls may be referred to as a“gaming session”.

The terms “gambling circle” and “gaming circle” shall generally besynonymous and may refer to a group of people, at least one of whomgambles or plays games, and whose members receive benefits based on theresults of the gambler/player. For example, a user may go to Las Vegas,while several friends remain in the user's hometown. The user may signup the friends to be part of the user's gambling circle. In someembodiments, the friends may then receive a percentage of any jackpotthe user wins.

III. Systems

An example embodiment of a system 100A is depicted in FIG. 1A. Thesystem 100A according to some embodiments may include a centralcontroller 102 (an example of which is depicted in FIG. 2) in one ortwo-way communication with one or more casino servers 112, 114 (anexample of which is depicted in FIG. 3); one or more user terminals 106,108, 110 (an example of which is depicted in FIG. 4); and/or one or moremarketer devices 128, 130 (an example of which is depicted in FIG. 6)via a network, for example, the Internet 104 or via anothercommunications link. Casino servers 112, 114, in turn, are each incommunication with one or more gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126 (anexample of which is depicted in FIG. 5). Although not pictured, othercasino devices besides gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126 may beconnected to the casino servers 112, 114 and in communication with(and/or controllable by) the central controller 102. The devicesdepicted as being connected directly together in FIG. 1A may also oralternatively be connected via a network, for example, a local areanetwork, the Internet 104, and/or via another communications link.

In operation, the central controller 102 may function under the controlof a casino, a merchant, or other entity (e.g., a nonprofitorganization, a counselor, a judicial officer, an insurer, a creditor, aregulator) that may also control, in whole or part, use of the gamingdevices 120, 122, 124, 126. For example, the central controller 102 maybe a server in a merchant's network. In some embodiments, the centralcontroller 102 and the casino servers 112, 114 may comprise the samedevice.

Referring to FIG. 1B, an alternate system 100B according to someembodiments further includes one or more third-party service providerservers 118. A third-party service provider server 118 may also be inone or two-way communication with the central controller 102. However,as shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1B, the third-party serviceprovider server 118 may be disposed between the central controller 102and the user terminals 106, 108, 110. Alternatively, the third-partyservice provider server 118 may be disposed between the centralcontroller 102 and the casino servers 112, 114.

The primary difference between the two alternative embodiments depictedin FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B is that the system 100B includes the third-partyservice provider server 118 which may be operable by an entity distinctand/or physically remote from the entity operating the centralcontroller 102. In operation, the third-party service provider server118 may perform methods described herein by sending signals to thecentral controller 102 to be relayed to the user terminals 106, 108,110. For example, a marketing company may operate a third-party serviceprovider server 118 that communicates with a slot machine manufacturingcompany server (functioning as a central controller 102) to provideplayers with marketing offers based on player information gathered viauser terminals 106, 108, 110, marketer devices 128, 130, and/or gamingdevices 120, 122, 124, 126. In another example, an entity interested infacilitating the limitation or prevention of the gaming of one or moreplayers (e.g., a government agency) may operate the third-party serviceprovider server 118 to receive preparation data (e.g., gaming rulepreparation data) from user terminals 106, 108, 110 and/or from anotherdevice. In the system 100A, the functions of the third-party serviceprovider server 118 may be consolidated into the central controller 102and/or another device.

An additional difference between these two embodiments relates to thephysical topology of the systems 100A and 100B. In both of the depictedembodiments, each node may securely communicate with every other node inthe system 100A, 100B via, for example, a Virtual Private Network (VPN).Thus, all nodes may be logically connected. However, the system 100B mayallow the third-party service provider server 118 to optionally serve asa single gateway between the nodes that will typically be under thecontrol of one or more casinos (and players within the casinos'location) and the other nodes in the system 100B, i.e., nodes that maybe operated by players outside of the casinos' location. In someembodiments, the centralization, security, and control that naturallyresults from this topology may be useful in monitoring players' use ofthe system 100A, 100B to make such determinations as, for example, whichpreparations are the most popular or how many users are currentlyactively planning or preparing for a visit to a casino. Further, in someembodiments, marketer devices 128, 130 may be connected to the system100B via the Internet 104 instead of directly to the central controller102. This would physically locate them on the “public” side of thethird-party service provider server 118 gateway and allow, for example,a much more secure network on the “private” side of the third-partyservice provider server 118 gateway.

In some embodiments, the casino servers 112, 114 may each be controlledby different casinos (and/or other gaming entities). The centralcontroller 102 may be operated by an entity that uses system 100A, 100Bto, for example, instruct casinos to limit or prevent the gamingactivity of one or more players according to the instructions of one ormore players and/or other parties, such as family members, friends,regulators, judicial officers, insurers, creditors, and counselors. Thecentral controller 102 may also or alternatively be operated by anentity that uses the system 100A, 100B to, for example, deliver playersto the different casinos. If there is a third-party service providerserver 118, it may be operated by an unrelated entity that merelypermits the operators of the central controller 102 to have access toplayers who are operating the user terminals 106, 108, 110 or the gamingdevices 120, 122, 124, 126. Thus, in such an example embodiment, thesystem 100A, 100B may involve multiple casinos (operating casino servers112, 114, 116), a merchant such as a customer acquisition service agent(operating the central controller 102), merchant clients of the customeracquisition service agent (operating the marketer devices 128, 130),third-party network operators (operating third-party service providerservers 118), and users (operating user terminals 106, 108, 110 andgaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126). In alternative embodiments, a casinomay operate a combined central controller/casino server 102, 112, 114directly and the system 100A, 100B may only involve a casino and users.

In both embodiments pictured in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, communicationbetween the central controller 102, the casino servers 112, 114, theuser terminals 106, 108, 110, the gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126,marketer devices 128, 130, and/or the third-party service providerserver 118, may be direct and/or via a network such as the Internet 104.

Referring to both FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, each of the central controller102, (the third-party service provider server 118 of FIG. 1B), thecasino servers 112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketerdevices 128, 130, and the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may comprise, forexample, computers, such as those based on the Intel® Pentium®processor, that are adapted to communicate with each other. Any numberof third-party service provider servers 118, casino servers 112, 114,116, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130,and/or user terminals 106, 108, 110 may be in communication with thecentral controller 102. In addition, the user terminals 106, 108, 110may be in direct or indirect, one or two-way communication with thecasino servers 112, 114, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/or thegaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126. The central controller 102, thethird-party service provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114,gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/orthe user terminals 106, 108, 110 may each be physically proximate toeach other or geographically remote from each other. The centralcontroller 102, the third-party service provider server 118, the casinoservers 112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketerdevices 128, 130, and/or the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may eachinclude input devices 202, 302, 402, 412, 502, 510, 512, 602, 610, 700,800 and output devices 202, 302, 402, 408, 502, 508, 602, 608, 700, 800,as described herein.

As indicated, communication between the central controller 102, thethird-party service provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114,gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/orthe user terminals 106, 108, 110 may be direct or indirect, such as overan Internet Protocol (IP) network such as the Internet 104, an intranet,or an extranet through a Web site maintained by the central controller102 (and/or the third-party service provider server 118) on a remoteserver or over an online data network including commercial on-lineservice providers, bulletin board systems, routers, gateways, and thelike. In some embodiments, the nodes may communicate with each otherover local area networks including Ethernet, Token Ring, and the like,RF communications, IR communications, microwave communications, cabletelevision systems, satellite links, a WAN, an Asynchronous TransferMode (ATM) networks, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), otherwireless networks, and the like.

Devices in communication with each other need not be continuallytransmitting to each other. On the contrary, such devices need onlytransmit to each other as necessary, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a device in communicationwith another device via the Internet 104 may not transmit data to theother device for weeks at a time.

The central controller 102 (and/or the third-party service providerserver 118) may function as a “Web server” that presents and/orgenerates Web pages that are documents stored on Internet-connectedcomputers accessible via the World Wide Web using protocols such as,e.g., the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Such documents typicallyinclude one or more Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) files, associatedgraphics, and script files. A Web server allows communication with thecentral controller 102 in a manner known in the art. The gaming devices120, 122, 124, 126 and the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may use a Webbrowser, such as NAVIGATOR® published by NETSCAPE® for accessing HTMLforms generated or maintained by or on behalf of the central controller102 and/or the third-party service provider server 118.

As indicated, any or all of the central controller 102, the third-partyservice provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114, the gamingdevices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/or theuser terminals 106, 108, 110 may include or be part of, e.g., processorbased cash registers, telephones, Interactive Voice Response (IVR)systems such as the ML400-IVR designed by Missing Link Interactive VoiceResponse Systems™, cellular/wireless phones, vending machines, pagers,gaming devices including slot machines, personal computers, portabletypes of computers, such as a laptop computer, a wearable computer, apalm-top computer, a hand-held computer, a smart card, and/or a PDA.Further details of the central controller 102, the third-party serviceprovider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114, gaming devices 120,122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and the user terminals106, 108, 110 are provided herein.

As indicated above, in some embodiments, the central controller 102(and/or the third-party service provider server 118) may include casinoservers 112, 114, and/or user terminals 106, 108, 110. Further, thecentral controller 102 may communicate with gaming devices 120, 122,124, 126 and players via gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126 directlyinstead of through the casino servers 112, 114. In addition, the centralcontroller 102 may communicate with users directly instead of throughthe user terminals 106, 108, 110 or gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126.Although not pictured, the central controller 102, the third-partyservice provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114, gaming devices120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/or the userterminals 106, 108, 110 may also be in communication with one or moreconsumer and/or merchant credit institutions to effect transactions andmay do so directly or via a secure financial network such as the Fedwirenetwork maintained by the United States Federal Reserve System, theAutomated Clearing House (ACH) Network, the Clearing House InterbankPayments System (CHIPS), or the like.

In operation, the casino servers 112, 114 and/or the user terminals 106,108, 110 may exchange information about the player and the player'spreparation data via the central controller 102. In embodiments with athird-party service provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114,and/or the user terminals 106, 108, 110 and/or the gaming devices 120,122, 124, 126 may exchange information about the player via thethird-party service provider server 118. The casino servers 112, 114may, for example, provide information related to casino features orother information to the central controller 102 (and/or the third-partyservice provider server 118). The user terminals 106, 108, 110 mayprovide user preparation data to the central controller 102 (and/or thethird-party service provider server 118). The central controller 102(and/or the third-party service provider server 118) may provideinformation about players and their preparation data to the casinoservers 112, 114 and also preparation codes to the user terminals 106,108, 110 for later use by players at the gaming devices 120, 122, 124,126 in the casino location. In some embodiments, upon receiving apreparation code from a gaming device 120 or other casino device, acasino server 112 may communicate instructions to the gaming device 120to configure itself according to a stored configuration associated withthe preparation code.

IV. Devices

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating details of an example of acentral controller 200 (e.g., the central controller 102 of FIG. 1Aand/or FIG. 1B; and/or an example of a third-party service providerserver 118 of FIG. 1B). The central controller 200 may generally beoperative to manage systems (such as the system 100A, 100B of FIG. 1Aand/or FIG. 1B) and/or execute the methods and processes as describedherein. The central controller 200 may, for example, be implemented asone or more system controllers, one or more dedicated hardware circuits,one or more appropriately programmed general purpose computers, or anyother similar electronic, mechanical, electro-mechanical, and/or humanoperated device. For example, in FIG. 1B, the central controller 102,200 is depicted as coupled to a third-party service provider server 118.In the embodiment of FIG. 1B, these two servers may provide the samefunctions as the central controller 102, 200 alone in the embodiment ofFIG. 1A.

The central controller 200 (and/or the third-party service providerserver 118) may include a processor 201, such as one or more Intel®Pentium® processors. The processor 201 may include and/or be coupled toone or more clocks or timers (not pictured) and one or morecommunication ports 202 through which the processor 201 communicateswith other devices (such as the casino servers 112, 114, the userterminals 106, 108, 110, the gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, marketerdevices 128, 130, and/or the third-party service provider server 118 ofFIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B). The processor 201 may also or alternatively bein communication with a data storage device 204. The data storage device204 may include any appropriate combination of magnetic, optical and/orsemiconductor memory, and may include, for example, additionalprocessors, communication ports, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-OnlyMemory (ROM), a Compact Disc (CD) and/or a hard disk. The processor 201and the storage device 204 may each be, for example: (i) locatedentirely within a single computer or other computing device; or (ii)connected to each other by a remote communication medium, such as aserial port cable, a LAN, a telephone line, radio frequency transceiver,a fiber optic connection or the like. In some embodiments for example,the central controller 200 may comprise one or more computers (orprocessors 201) that are connected to a remote server computer operativeto maintain databases, where the data storage device 204 is comprised ofthe combination of the remote server computer and the associateddatabases.

The data storage device 204 generally stores a program 206 forcontrolling the processor 201. The processor 201 performs instructionsof the program 206, for example, and thereby operates in accordance withembodiments described herein. Some embodiments may be embodied as acomputer program developed using an object oriented language that allowsthe modeling of complex systems with modular objects to createabstractions that are representative of real world, physical objects andtheir interrelationships. However, it should be understood that theembodiments as described herein can be implemented in many differentways using a wide range of programming techniques as well as generalpurpose hardware systems or dedicated controllers. The program 206 maybe stored in a compressed, un-compiled and/or encrypted format. Theprogram 206 furthermore may include program elements that may begenerally useful, such as an operating system, a database managementsystem and device drivers for allowing the processor 201 to interfacewith computer peripheral devices. Appropriate general purpose programelements are known to those skilled in the art, and need not bedescribed in detail herein.

Further, the program 206 is generally operative to execute a number ofspecific modules or subroutines which may include (but are not limitedto) one or more routines to (i) identify a user at a user terminal 106,108, 110 as a potential user of a custom configured gaming device 120,122, 124, 126; (ii) one or more routines to receive information about auser; (iii) one or more routines to provide casino feature informationto a user at a user terminal 106, 108, 110; (iv) one or more routines togenerate a preparation code and associate it with a player's preparationdata; (v) one or more routines to store a player's preparation data;(vi) one or more routines to securely communicate stored preparationcodes and the associated preparation data to the casino servers 112,114; (vii) one or more routines to facilitate and control communicationsbetween casino servers 112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126,marketer devices 128, 130, user terminals 106, 108, 110, the centralcontroller 102, and/or a third-party service provider server 118; and/or(viii) one or more routines to control databases or software objectsthat track information regarding users, casinos, merchants, otherthird-parties, user terminals 106, 108, 110, gambling results,preparation data, preparation codes, casino features, gaming devices120, 122, 124, 126, and fulfillment of user requests. Examples of theseroutines and their operation are described in detail herein, such as inconjunction with the flowcharts of the methods 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700depicted in and described with respect to FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIG. 16,and/or FIG. 17.

According to some embodiments, the instructions of the program 206 maybe read into a main memory of the processor 201 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such from a ROM to a RAM. Execution ofsequences of the instructions in the program 206 causes processor 201 toperform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments,hard-wired circuitry or integrated circuits may be used in place of, orin combination with, software instructions for implementation of theprocesses described herein. Thus, embodiments are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software.

In addition to the program 206, the storage device 204 is generally alsooperative to store (i) a user database 208, (ii) a trip documentationdatabase 210, (iii) a gambling circle database 212, and (iv) apreparation database 214. The databases 208, 210, 212, 214 are describedin detail herein and example structures are depicted with sample entriesin the accompanying figures. As will be understood by those skilled inthe art, the schematic illustrations and accompanying descriptions ofthe sample databases presented herein are exemplary arrangements forstored representations of information. Any number of other arrangementsmay be employed besides those suggested by the tables shown. Forexample, even though four (4) separate databases are illustrated,embodiments may be practiced effectively using one (1), two (2), three(3), five (5), or more functionally equivalent databases. Similarly, theillustrated entries of the databases represent exemplary informationonly; those skilled in the art will understand that the number andcontent of the entries can be different from those illustrated herein.Further, despite the depiction of the databases as tables, anobject-based model could be used to store and manipulate the data typesof the present invention and likewise, object methods or behaviors canbe used to implement the processes described herein.

Turning to FIG. 3, a block diagram depicting an example a casino server300 (such as the casino server 112, 114 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B)includes a processor 301 coupled to a communications port 302, a datastorage device 304 that stores a casino server program 306, a local copyof relevant entries of the user database 308, and a local copy ofrelevant entries of the preparation database 314. In embodiments inwhich, for example, the central controller 102, 200 serves/controlsmultiple casinos operated by different entities, a casino may wish tohave a local copy of the portions of the central controller's databases208, 210, 212, 214 that include entries related to that casino andexclude other casinos' access to that casino's information. Thus, theexample embodiment of a casino server 300 depicts local copies of someof the databases 208, 210, 212, 214 of FIG. 2 to illustrate this point.This redundant configuration may provide enhanced system performance byreducing network communications. A casino server program 306 may includeone or more routines to respond to requests from gaming devices 120,122, 124, 126 for preparation data for, in some embodiments, particularplayers or, in other embodiments, specified preparation codes. In otherwords, the local copy of the user database 308 may provide the casinoserver program 306 with access to information about specific playerswhile the local copy of the preparation code database 314 may provideaccess to the preparation data. In some embodiments, local copies of thedatabases are not stored on the casino server 300 and instead, thecasino server program 306 accesses the user database 208 and thepreparation database 214 stored and maintained on the central controller102, 200. Likewise, in some embodiments, the database may only exist onthe casino server 300 and the central controller 102, 200 accesses thecasino server 300 for the data. This distributed configuration mayprovide enhanced system security by allowing different casinos to storeand maintain their own databases.

Turning to FIG. 4, a block diagram of an example user terminal 400(e.g., the user terminal 106, 108, 110 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) isdepicted. The user terminal 400 according to some embodiments mayinclude a processor 401 coupled to a communications port 402, a datastorage device 404 that stores a user terminal program 406, an outputdevice 408, and an input device 412. A user terminal program 406 mayinclude one or more routines to facilitate and control communicationsand interaction with the central controller 102, 200 as well as a userinterface to facilitate communications and interaction with a player.Example display screen images of such a user interface are provided inFIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and FIG. 8, herein. An optional security device (notpictured) connected to the processor 401 may provide a facility tosupport secure communications via encryption, for example.

In addition, a user terminal 400 may include additional devices tosupport other functions. For example, a user terminal 400 embodied in apersonal computer may additionally include a printing device forgenerating a coupon or a barcode representative of a preparation code.In some embodiments, users may be issued cashless gaming receipts thatthey can print (along with the preparation code) as an incentive tofollow through and come to a sponsoring casino location. In someembodiments, user devices such as PDA devices or cell phones may be usedin place of or in addition to user terminals 400. Many different typesof input and output devices may be used in conjunction with a userterminal 400. Uses of various different user terminal 400 components aredescribed herein.

Turning to FIG. 5, a block diagram of an example gaming device 500(e.g., the gaming device 120, 122, 126 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) isdepicted. In addition to apparatus to support gaming functions, a gamingdevice 500 according to some embodiments may include a processor 501coupled to a communications port 502, a data storage device 504 thatstores a gaming device program 506, a display screen 508, a trackingcard reader 510, a user input device 512, and, in some embodiments, aplayer device (not pictured). A gaming device program 506 may includeone or more routines to facilitate and control communications andinteraction with the casino server 112, 114, 300 and/or in someembodiments, an interface to facilitate communications and interactionwith the central controller 102, 200, the third-party service providerserver 118, and/or a user terminal 106, 108, 110, 400.

A gaming device 500 according to some embodiments may be implemented inany number of devices such as, for example, a slot machine, a processorbased cash register, a telephone, an IVR system, a cellular/wirelessphone, a vending machine, a pager, a personal computer, a portablecomputer such as a laptop, a wearable computer, a palm-top computer, ahand-held computer, and/or a PDA. In some embodiments, a user devicesuch as a PDA or cell phone may be used in place of, or in addition to,some or all of the gaming device 500 components depicted in FIG. 5.

In operation, the tracking card reader 510 may be used to identify aplayer to the system 100A, 100B of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B. In someembodiments, the gaming device program 506 may use the identity of aplayer determined via the tracking card reader 210 as an index into acopy of the preparation code database 314 residing on the casino server112, 114, 300. Thus, in some embodiments the gaming device 500 isoperable to retrieve a preparation data associated with a player usingthe player's tracking card information. In some embodiments, the gamingdevice program 506 may be further operative to configure the gamingdevice 500 based on the retrieved preparation data.

Turning to FIG. 6, a block diagram of an example marketer device 600(e.g., the marketer device 128, 130 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) isdepicted. A marketer device 600 according to some embodiments mayinclude a processor 601 coupled to a communications port 602, a datastorage device 604 that stores a marketer device program 606 and aproduct database 608, an input device 610, and an output device 612. Amarketer device program 606 may include one or more routines tofacilitate and control communications and interaction with the centralcontroller 102, 200 as well as a user interface to facilitatecommunications and interaction with a merchant. In some embodiments, aproduct database 608 may be used by a marketer in determining whatproducts to offer a user based upon the preparation data provided by theuser.

Turning to FIG. 7A, an example embodiment of a “preference” preparationmenu screen 700A (such as it may be displayed on the output device 408of a user terminal 106, 108, 110, 400) is depicted. The examplepreference preparation menu screen 700A generally may include severalchoices that each lead the user to sub-menus for developing preferencepreparation data. The choices may include (as shown) “Game Type,” “Lookand Feel,” “Financial Returns,” “Contracts,” “Marketing Offers,”“Gambling Circle,” “Travel Arrangements,” “Intentions,” “Comps,”“Environmental Conditions,” “Fantasy Prizes,” “Superstition,” “CreditLines,” “Gambling Rules,” and “Scrap Book.” Each of these menu choicesare discussed in detail herein with respect to the various methodsassociated with some embodiments. In some embodiments, a preferencepreparation menu screen 700A may be presented to users outside a casinowhile they are operating a user terminal 106, 108, 110, 400 and/or tousers inside a casino while they are operating a gaming device 120, 122,124, 126, 500 (or any appropriate casino device). In some embodiments, apreference preparation menu screen 700A may be implemented as a Web pagestored remotely but viewed locally via a Web browser. In someembodiments, a preference preparation menu screen 700A may beimplemented as a program that executes locally on a user terminal 106,108, 110, 400 and/or on a gaming device 120, 122, 124, 126, 500 (or anyappropriate casino device).

Although not depicted on the exemplary preference preparation menuscreen 700A of FIG. 7A, additional options may be provided to usersand/or third parties. For example, in one or more embodiments, a usermay be provided with a menu option that allows restriction of gamingand/or gambling activity. Examples of such “gaming rule” and/or “gaminglimit” options are depicted in FIG. 7B.

FIG. 7B is a drawing illustrating an example of a gaming limitpreparation menu screen 700B for use with some embodiments. The gamingrule preparation menu screen 700B may comprise, for example, a game typerule area 702, a denomination rule area 704, an allowed gaming timesarea 706, a restricted gaming times area 708, a maximum wager area 710,and/or a maximum loss area 712. As shown, for example, a player and/orthird party may restrict a player's gaming activities by (i) onlyallowing the player to play slots (at 702); (ii) restricting the playerto twenty-five cent ($0.25) denomination machines (at 704); (iii) onlyallowing the player to play on weekends (at 706); (iv) limiting theplayer's playing to evening hours (at 708; e.g., to not interfere with ajob); (v) not allowing the player to wager more than five dollars ($5;at 710); and/or (vi) not allowing the player to lose more than fiftydollars ($50; at 712). As described herein, such gaming rules and/orlimits may be established by the player and/or by a third party such asa relative of the player, an employer, the casino, an insurer, and/or agovernment agency or not-for-profit organization. While examples ofcertain types and/or configurations of gaming rules and/or limits areillustrated in FIG. 7B, it should be apparent that other gaming and/orgambling features and/or parameters may similarly be managed and/orrestricted.

Turning to FIG. 8, an example embodiment of a preference preparationsub-menu screen 800 is depicted. The particular sub-menu depicted inFIG. 8 is an example of a screen image that may be presented, forexample, in response to a user selecting the “Look and Feel” choice fromthe preference preparation menu screen 700A of FIG. 7A. The preferencepreparation sub-menu screen 800 presents five (5) example featureselection controls for indicating (i) a sound level selection (loud,medium, soft), (ii) a font size selection (small, medium, large), (iii)a symbol selection (fruit, jewelry, cars), (iv) a contrast selection(large, medium, small), and (v) a language selection (English, Spanish,German, Japanese, Chinese) for a gaming device 120, 122, 124, 126, 500.In operation, a user terminal 106, 108, 110, 400 (or casino device)executing a browser program may be used to access a central controller102, 200 to retrieve a Web page (as depicted in FIG. 8) that presentsthe depicted feature selection controls specific to a particular gamingdevice 120, 122, 124, 126, 500 available at a casino location the playerintends to visit. The user may click on one button in each of the five(5) feature selection controls to indicate his choice. The user terminal106, 108, 110, 400 may be further operative to communicate the player'sselections and responses to other sub-menu questions (togetherrepresenting preparation data) back to the central controller 102, 200for storage in the preparation database 208. In some embodiments, thepreparation data is stored indexed by a preparation code that isprovided to the user via the user terminal 106, 108, 110, 200.

In one or more embodiments where a user and/or third party may beprovided with a menu option that permits the limitation of a player'sfuture gambling activity, sub-menu options may be provided (uponselection of the menu option, e.g., from the gaming rule preparationmenu 700B of FIG. 7B) for defining the nature and/or scope of suchlimitations. For example, such sub-menu options may include, but are notlimited to, options which permit the setting of limits or rulesgoverning, for one or more specific users, (i) the types of wagers thatmay be allowed (e.g., which paylines may be activated on a slot machine;the maximum wager amount per handle pull), (ii) the maximum net wageramount per period of time, (iii) the maximum net loss amount per periodof time, (iv) the maximum net win amount per period of time, (v) themaximum rate at which handle pulls may be permitted, (vi) the maximumperiod of time for which one or more gaming machine(s) will be operable(e.g., starting from a triggering handle pull), (vii) the maximum numberof handle pulls permitted per period of time, (viii) the days and/orhours that one or more gaming machine(s) may be operable, (ix) thesources of funds that may be used to place wagers (e.g., certain playersmay only play with stored value or debit cards; certain players may onlyplay with “won” money after a threshold amount of cash is wagered), (x)the types of games which may be permitted (e.g., slots only; all gamesexcept video poker), (xi) the identities or types of gaming machineswhich may or may not be permitted (e.g., only on machine number“1234651”; only on twenty-five cent ($0.25) denomination slot machines),and/or (xii) any other gambling attribute. Other such features arecontemplated, as described herein.

V. Databases

As indicated above, it should be noted that although the exampleembodiments generally depict five (5) particular databases stored instorage devices 204, 304, 604, other database arrangements may be usedwhich would still be in keeping with the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. In other words, some embodiments may be implemented usingany number of different database files or data structures, as opposed tothe five (5) databases depicted generally herein. Further, theindividual database files may be stored on different servers (e.g.,located on different storage devices in different geographic locations,such as on a third-party service provider server 118). Likewise, theprograms 206, 306, 606 may also or alternatively be located remotelyfrom the storage devices 204, 304, 604 and/or on another server. Asindicated, the programs 206, 306, 606 generally include instructions forretrieving, manipulating, and storing data in the databases 208, 210,212, 214, 308, 310, 608 as necessary to perform the methods describedherein.

A. User Database

Turning to FIG. 9, a tabular representation of an embodiment of a userdatabase 900 (e.g., the user database 208 of FIG. 2) according to someembodiments is illustrated. This particular tabular representation of auser database 900 includes sample records or entries which each includeinformation regarding a particular user. In some embodiments, the userdatabase 900 is used to track such things as player identity, playerfinancial account information, player demographic information, andplayer gambling performance information, as well as to associate playerswith preparation codes. Those skilled in the art will understand thatsuch a user database 900 may include any number of entries or additionalfields. For example, although not depicted in FIG. 9, such a userdatabase 900 may include entries or fields pertaining to gambling limitsor rules set by the user and/or a third party. Thus, particularrestrictions may be denoted in such a user database 900, and usage orgambling history of a particular user may also be stored therein so thata computer (e.g., a gaming device 122, a casino server 112, a centralcontroller 102 and/or a third-party service provider server 118, all ofFIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) may determine, based on the usage or gamblinghistory, whether one or more gambling limits or rules have been exceededor satisfied, in which case instructions or commands may be output bysuch a computer (e.g., to a slot machine) to limit or restrict aplayer's ability to gamble at a casino in accordance with the limit orrule.

The particular tabular representation of a user database 900 depicted inFIG. 9 includes seven (7) fields for each of the entries or records. Thefields may include: (i) a user identifier field 901 that stores arepresentation uniquely identifying the user; (ii) a name field 902 thatstores a representation of the user's name; (iii) a financial accountidentifier field 904 that stores a representation of a bank accountnumber, a credit card number, or other financial account informationneeded to charge an account; (iv) a demographic field 906 that stores arepresentation of a description of demographic information about theuser; (v) a machine identifier field 908 that stores a representationuniquely identifying a gaming device upon which the user played; (vi) alifetime theoretical win field 910 that stores a representation of theuser's lifetime theoretical win; and (vii) a preparation code field 912that stores a representation of a preparation code associated with theuser (e.g., that serves as a pointer into the preparation database 214).

The example user database 900 depicted in FIG. 9 provides example datato illustrate the meaning of the information stored in this databaseembodiment. A player identifier 901 (e.g., “P111123”, “P22234”) may beused to identify and index the players listed in a player database(e.g., the player database 610). Two examples of player information areprovided: “Sam Brown” with credit card number “1111-1111-1111-1111” is a“male, age 23” who played on gaming device “M234” and has a lifetimetheoretical win of “$2,345.00” and “Linda Jones” with bank accountnumber “2222-2222-2222-2222” is a “female, age 47” who played on gamingdevice “M532” and has a lifetime theoretical win of “$765.00.” “SamBrown” has provided the casino with preparation data that may beretrieved from the preparation database using the associated preparationcode “C8331” and for “Linda Jones”, “C5006.”

B. Trip Documentation Database

Turning to FIG. 10, a tabular representation of an embodiment of a tripdocumentation database 1000 (e.g., the trip documentation database 210of FIG. 2) according to some embodiments is illustrated. This particulartabular representation of a trip documentation database 1000 includessample records or entries which each include information regarding aparticular user's preparation data that describe how that user desireshis trip to be documented. In some embodiments, a trip documentationdatabase 1000 is used to track such things as user identity, tripidentity, photographs of the user, recording criteria, and deliverables.Those skilled in the art will understand that such a trip documentationdatabase 1000 may include any number of entries or additional fields.

The particular tabular representation of a trip documentation database1000 depicted in FIG. 10 includes six (6) fields for each of the entriesor records. The fields may include: (i) a user identifier field 1001that stores a representation uniquely identifying the user; (ii) a tripidentifier field 1002 that stores a representation uniquely identifyingthe user's trip to the casino; (iii) a photo identifier field 1004 thatstores representations uniquely identifying each of the photos that havebeen taken of the user during his trip; (iv) an outcome identifier field1006 that stores representations uniquely identifying each of the user'soutcomes that have been recorded during his trip; (v) a recordingcriteria field 1008 that stores a representation of a description ofwhat the player has requested to document during the trip; and (vi) adeliverable field 1010 that stores a representation of the form ofpresentation of the trip documentation the player has requested.

The example trip documentation database 1000 depicted in FIG. 10provides example data to illustrate the meaning of the informationstored in this database embodiment. A user identifier 1001 (e.g.,“P111666”; “P222777”; “P333888”; “P444999”) may be used to relate usersto their particular trip documentation preparation data. A tripidentifier 1002 (e.g., “T222222”; “T333333”; “T444-444”; “T555555”) maybe used to specify a user's particular trip when, for example, a uservisits a casino more than once.

A photo identifier 1004 (e.g., “Ph100000”; “Ph100001”; “Ph100999”;“Ph200002”; “Ph200010”; “Ph300333”; “N/A”) may be used to reference allthe photographs a casino has taken of a user based on the recordingcriteria 1008 (e.g., “Take a picture when I win more than $10”; “Take apicture every hour”; “Take a picture when I win $100 or more, andoverlay a shot of the slot screen”). The deliverable 1010 for a photorecording criteria 1008 may be, for example, a photo “album with 100pictures”; an “embossed album with 300 pictures”; a photo “album with100 pictures”; or “5 T-shirts with pictures.”

An outcome identifier 1006 (e.g., “OC123456”; “OC500001”; “OC500002”;“OC500003”) may be used to reference all the user's outcomes that acasino has recorded based on the recording criteria 1008 (e.g., “Take apicture when I win $100 or more, and overlay a shot of the slot screen”;“Record all my outcomes”). The deliverable 1010 for an outcome recordingcriteria 1008 may be, for example, a “software program that reenacts alloutcomes.”

C. Gaming Circle Database

Turning to FIG. 11, a tabular representation of an embodiment of agaming circle database 1100 (e.g., the gambling circle database 212 ofFIG. 2) according to some embodiments is illustrated. This particulartabular representation of a gaming circle database 1100 includes samplerecords or entries which each include information regarding a member ofa particular user's gaming and/or gambling circle. In some embodiments,the gaming circle database 1100 may be used to track such things asgaming circle members' identity, contact information, and benefits, aswell as to associate players with their gaming circle members. Note thata gaming and/or gambling circle may include any number of members. Thoseskilled in the art will understand that such a gaming circle database1100 may include any number of entries or additional fields.

The particular tabular representation of a gaming circle database 1100depicted in FIG. 11 includes six (6) fields for each of the entries orrecords. The fields may include: (i) a user identifier field 1101 thatstores a representation uniquely identifying the user; (ii) abeneficiary identifier field 1102 that stores a representation uniquelyidentifying a member of the user's gaming circle as a beneficiary of theuser's gaming and/or gambling; (iii) a name field 1104 that stores arepresentation of the beneficiary's name; (iv) an email field 1106 and(v) an address field 1108 that store a representation of thebeneficiary's contact information; and (vi) a benefit field 1110 thatstores a representation of the benefit that the beneficiary will receiveif any.

The example gaming circle database 1100 depicted in FIG. 11 providesexample data to illustrate the meaning of the information stored in thisdatabase embodiment. Referring to the first record, as part of hispreparation data, user “P555555” has specified “B11111,” who is morecommonly known as “Adam Finsky,” as a member of the user's gamblingcircle and a beneficiary of “5% of any jackpot above $1000” that theuser wins. “Adam Finsky” has the e-mail address “adam@aol.com” and livesin “Anyplace, USA.”

Referring to the second record, as part of his preparation data, user“P666666” has specified “B222222,” who is more commonly known as “LauraTanner,” as a member of the user's gambling circle and a beneficiary of“5% of net winnings” that the user wins. “Laura Tanner” has the e-mailaddress “Itanner@ibm.com” and lives in “Someplace, USA.”

Referring to the third record, as part of his preparation data, user“P777777” has specified “B333333,” who is more commonly known as “JackTinsel,” as a member of the user's gambling circle and a beneficiary of“buffet for every $200 gross winnings” that the user wins. “Jack Tinsel”has the email address “tinsel@home.com” and lives in “Somewhere; USA.”

D. Preparation Database

Turning to FIG. 12, a tabular representation of an embodiment ofpreparation database 1200 (e.g., the preparation database 214 of FIG. 2)according to some embodiments is illustrated. This particular tabularrepresentation of a preparation database 1200 includes three (3) samplerecords or entries which each include information regarding a particularuser's preparation data (e.g., preference preparation data and/or gamingrule and/or limit preparation data). In some embodiments, thepreparation database 1200 may be used to track information descriptiveof user specified preferences, intentions, plans related to the user'sgambling vacation, and/or limits or rules associated with the user'sgaming and/or gambling activities. In the specific example depicted inFIG. 12, the preparation database 1200 is structured to store and trackuser specified preferences related to gaming device configurations suchas the game type, default denomination of play, language, currency,noise level, and font size. The preparation database 1200 is also, inthe depicted example, structured to store gaming limits and/or rulesassociated with the user. It should be understood that other datastructures, such as the gambling circle database 212 and the tripdocumentation database 210, each of FIG. 2, may be used to track otherforms and types of preparation data, such as data pertaining to gamblinglimits or rules associated with a specific player which have beenregistered by the player and/or a third party. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the preparation database 1200 may include anynumber of entries and/or additional or alternative fields.

The particular tabular representation of the preparation database 1200depicted in FIG. 12 includes thirteen (13) fields for each of theentries or records. The fields may include: (i) a user identifier field1201, (ii) a preparation code field 1202 that stores a representationuniquely identifying a particular customized configuration; (iii) a gametype field 1203 that stores a representation of the selected game type;(iv) a denomination field 1204 that stores a representation of theselected default denomination that the gaming device will accept; (v) alanguage field 1206 that stores a representation of the selectedlanguage to be used by the gaming device; (vi) a currency field 1208that stores a representation of the selected currency to be used by thegaming device; (vii) a noise level field 1210 that stores arepresentation of a description of a sound effects volume of the gamingdevice; (viii) a font size field 1212 that stores a representation ofthe size that characters will be displayed on the gaming device; (ix) apicture field 1214 that stores the name of a picture and the pictureitself that the player would like to be displayed when he hits a jackpot(and/or any winning outcome); (x) a music field 1216 that stores arepresentation of the name of music and the music itself that the playerwould like to be played when he hits a jackpot (and/or any winningoutcome); (xi) an allowed game types field 1218; (xii) a maximum allowednet loss per month field 1220; and/or (xiv) a maximum allowed amount ofgaming per month field 1222.

The example preparation database 1200 of FIG. 12 provides example datato illustrate the meaning of the information stored in this databaseembodiment. The preparation code 1202 (i.e., “C5006”; “C9224”; “C8331”)may be used to identify and/or index preparation data received fromusers. Examples of game types that may be indicated by the game typefield 1203 may include reel slots, video poker, and blackjack. Exampledenominations that may be indicated by the denomination field 1204 mayinclude one dollar ($1.00), twenty-five cents ($0.25), and five dollars($5.00). Example languages that may be indicated by the language field1206 may include English and Japanese, and example currencies that maybe indicated by the currency field 1208 may include the U.S. dollar andthe yen. Example noise levels that may be indicated by the noise levelfield 1210 may include high, medium, and low and example font sizes thatmay be indicated by the font size field 1212 may include medium, smalland large. Example pictures that may be indicated by the picture field1214 may include an image of a user's poodle, an image of another user'sgrandson, and an image of yet another user's hamster. Example music thatmay be indicated by the music field 1216 may include “Macarena,” “MyWay,” and “Beethoven's 9^(th)”.

In one or more embodiments, the preparation database may be configuredto store, for one or more specific users, information pertaining togambling limits and/or rules associated with a specific player whichhave been registered by the player and/or a third party, such as (i) thetypes of wagers that may be allowed (e.g., which paylines may beactivated on a slot machine; the maximum wager amount per handle pull);(ii) the maximum net wager amount per period of time, (iii) the maximumnet loss amount per period of time; (iv) the maximum net win amount perperiod of time; (v) the maximum rate at which handle pulls may bepermitted; (vi) the maximum period of time for which one or more gamingmachine(s) will be operable (e.g., starting from a triggering handlepull); (vii) the maximum number of handle pulls permitted per period oftime; (viii) the days and/or hours that one or more gaming machine(s)may be operable; (ix) the sources of funds that may be used to placewagers (e.g., certain players may only play with stored value or debitcards; certain players may only play with “won” money after a thresholdamount of cash is wagered); (x) the types of games which may bepermitted (e.g., slots only; all games except video poker); (xi) theidentities and/or types of gaming machines which may or may not bepermitted (e.g., only on machine number “1234651”; only on twenty-fivecent ($0.25) denomination slot machines); (xii) any other gamblingattribute; and/or (xiii) any combination thereof.

As shown in the exemplary preparation database 1200 of FIG. 12, forexample, a user identifier (e.g., “136845; “918566”; “PT-17364”) may bestored in the user identifier field 1201 to indicate a player and/oruser (e.g., uniquely) that is associated with a particular preparationcode. Although only one preparation code is depicted in FIG. 12 as beingassociated with one player or user, it should be understood that therelationship may be of any practicable sort, including one-to-many andmany-to-one. In some embodiments, the player identifier may comprise anytype of user identifier that is or becomes known or practicable. Theplayer identifier may comprise a simple randomly-generated alphanumericcode or string, a biometric identifier (e.g., a fingerprint, a retinaimage, and/or a facial scan). The preparation database 1200 may furthercomprise gaming rule and/or limit preparation data. In the allowed gametypes field 1218, for example, the first user (e.g., identified by theuser identifier of “136845”) may be limited to playing video poker andslot games, while the third user (e.g., identified by the useridentifier “PT-17364”) may be limited to arcade games (e.g.,non-wagering games). Other limits and/or rules may also or alternativelybe stored. As shown in the maximum allowed net loss per month field1220, for example, the third user may be limited to accruing losses ofjust fifty dollars ($50) per month (and/or per any other time period).Similarly, as shown in the maximum allowed amount of gaming per monthfield 1222, the first player may be limited to five (5) hours of playingtime per month. It should be apparent that other and/or additional timesframes and/or limits or rules may also or alternatively be stored and/orindicated by the preparation database 1200.

E. Product Database

Turning now to FIG. 13, a tabular representation of an embodiment of aproduct database 1300 (e.g., the product database 608 of FIG. 6)according to some embodiments is illustrated. This particular tabularrepresentation of the product database 1300 includes sample records orentries which each include information regarding a particular productthat may be used in a marketing promotion. In some embodiments, aproduct database 1300 is used by a marketer in determining what productto offer a user in different marketing offers. Those skilled in the artwill understand that such a product database 1300 may include any numberof entries or additional fields.

The particular tabular representation of a product database 1300depicted in FIG. 13 includes five (5) fields for each of the entries orrecords. The fields may include: (i) a product identifier field 1301that stores a representation uniquely identifying the product; (ii) adescription field 1302 that stores a representation that is descriptiveof the product; (iii) a manufacturer field 1304 that stores arepresentation of the name of the manufacturer or supplier of theproduct; (iv) a retail price field 1306 that stores a representation ofa retail price of the product; and (v) an excess inventory field 1308that stores a representation of the number of units of the productavailable for use with marketing offers.

The example product database 1300 depicted in FIG. 13 provides exampledata to illustrate the meaning of the information stored in thisdatabase embodiment. A product identifier 1301 (e.g., “PR888”; “PR999”;“PR222”; “PR333”) may be used to identify and index the products listedin the product database 608. Four (4) example entries of productinformation are provided: (i) “45” “eight-speed blender[s]” with an“$80” retail price and manufactured by “Anycorp Inc.” are available foruse with marketing offers; (ii) “0” “washing machine[s]” with an “$800”retail price and manufactured by “Somecorp” Inc. are available for usewith marketing offers; (iii) “90” “color TV[s]” with a “$200” retailprice and manufactured by “Bigcorp” Inc. are available for use withmarketing offers; and (iv) an “unlimited” number of “6 month cableservice” subscriptions with an “$180” retail price and provided by “XYZBroadcasting” Inc. are available for use with marketing offers.

F. Casino Database

Although not illustrated, some embodiments of the may include a casinodatabase that may reside on a casino server 112 and/or a centralcontroller 102, both of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B. A casino database may beused to store the unique configurable features of a particular casinowhere there are multiple different types of options such as, forexample, multiple different types of gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126.For example, such a database might list the different configurablefeatures for each type of game at a particular casino possibly indexedby machine identifier and then each of the possible values for eachfeature. A casino database may be used as a data source to assemble, forexample, a Web page that looks like the screen image 800 of FIG. 8.Alternatively, the same screen image could be generated without a casinodatabase. However, where there are many different options available,using a casino database may reduce and simplify the resources requiredto generate screen images similar to that shown in FIG. 8.

VI. Processes

The systems and devices described herein, including the hardwarecomponents and the databases, are useful to perform various methodspursuant to some embodiments. However, it should be understood that notall of the above described components and databases are necessary toperform any particular method. In fact, in some embodiments, none of theabove-described systems and/or devices may be required to practice oneor more of the methods described herein. The systems and/or devicesdescribed herein are examples that may possibly be useful in practicingsome or all of the embodiments described herein. For example, the userdatabase 210 described herein may be useful for tracking users andinformation about them, but it may not be absolutely necessary to havesuch a database in order to perform the methods described herein. Inother words, the methods described herein may be practiced using aconventional player tracking list in conjunction with a casino'sconventional accounting system.

Referring to FIG. 14, a flow diagram illustrating a method 1400according to some embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the method1400 may be performed by and/or otherwise associated with a gamingdevice or machine, a central controller, an external third-party, and/oran integrated third-party entity/device such as a third-party serviceprovider server. It should be understood that the particular arrangementof elements in the method 1400 of FIG. 14, as well as the order ofexample steps of various methods discussed herein, is not meant to implya fixed order, sequence, and/or timing to the steps; embodiments maygenerally be practiced in any order, sequence, and/or timing that is orbecomes practicable.

In general terms, and referring to FIG. 14, the method 1400 may begin at1402, where a device such as a central controller receives configurationand/or preparation data, for example, from a player or a third party,during and/or after the player's or third party's use of a userterminal. A player and/or third party may utilize an interface such asthe exemplary displays 700A, 700B, 800 shown in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and/orFIG. 8, to remotely indicate configuration and/or preparation data (suchas may comprise and/or define one or more gaming rules or limits). At1404, the method 1400 may continue where a preparation code associatedwith the configuration data is determined. In some embodiments, thispreparation code may simply comprise a stored indication of preparationdata such as a stored indication of a gaming rule or limit. According tosome embodiments, the method 1400 may continue at 1406 where theconfiguration data and the associated preparation code are transmitted(e.g., from the central controller) to a casino server and/or otherdevice or computer, such as a gaming machine or device. The method 1400may continue at 1408 where the central controller and/or another device(e.g., a gaming machine or a user computer) provides feedback to theuser.

In some embodiments, the feedback may include the casino serverconfiguring and/or operating a gaming or other casino device. In someembodiments, the casino server may configure and/or operate a gaming orother casino device in response to receiving a preparation code (e.g., aplayer tracking card identifier; a biometric identifier) from a user viathe gaming or other casino device. In such an embodiment, the gaming orother casino device is configured according to the configuration dataassociated with the received preparation code.

In the subsections that follow, each of these processes will now bediscussed in detail. Note that not all of these steps are required toperform the method 1400 and that additional and/or alternative steps arecontemplated. Also note that the above general processes representfeatures of only some of the embodiments and that they may be combinedand/or subdivided in any number of different ways so that the method1400 includes more or fewer actual processes and/or elements. Forexample, in some embodiments many additional processes and/or elementsmay be added to update and maintain the databases described herein, butas indicated, it is not necessary to use the described databases in allembodiments. In other words, the method 1400 may contain any number ofprocesses and/or elements that are or become practicable to implementthe embodiments described herein.

A. Receiving Configuration Data—1402

In some embodiments, the user and/or third party may initially submitpreparation data (or configuration data) to the system (e.g., the system100A, 100B of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B). In some embodiments, the userand/or third party may log onto a central controller with a userterminal, for example, using a personal computer. As indicated, othersuitable user terminals may include PDA devices, telephones (includingcellular telephones), kiosks, ATMs, slot machines, and/or vendingmachines including such devices as gasoline pumps and point-of-saleterminals.

The user and/or third party may interact with a Web site hosted by thecentral controller. To log on, the user and/or third party may input aname, password, code, and/or other identifier. The user may then inputpreparation data in various ways. In some embodiments, the user selectspreparation data from a number of menus, each menu covering a differentsubject (examples of which are illustrated in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and/orFIG. 8 and described in the corresponding text). For example, within the“Look and Feel” category, a first menu may allow a user to select agaming device's game, font size, reel speed, language, volume, and otherattributes pertaining to the look and feel of the device. A second menumight allow a user to provide information about himself so as to receivetailored marketing offers at the gaming device. Menus might take theform of pull-down menus, check boxes, and so on. Menus might listheadings for preparation data and allow a user to enter the data. Forexample, a heading may be “Font Size” and in response the user may typein “12” for “12 point.” Many other menu systems are possible, includingmenu systems that relate to the limiting or preventing of gamblingactivity of one or more specific players. In some embodiments, a usermay enter preparation in text form. The text may then be interpreted bya human operator and/or by a computer program.

In some embodiments, a user may create or alter graphics as a means ofinputting preference preparation data. For example, the controller's Website may present a graphical depiction of a screen on a gaming device.Using his mouse, the user may delineate a portion of the screen in whichto receive marketing offers, and another portion of the screen in whichto play the game. The user may use his mouse to delineate areas of thescreen that are to serve as new input buttons to the gaming device. Forexample, the user might designate a small, square area on the slotscreen to be an “I accept” button, for use in accepting marketingoffers.

The following sub-sections describe several different categories ofpreparation data the user may designate. The list is not intended to bean exhaustive enumeration of every possible category of preparationdata, but rather an illustrative set of examples of types of preparationdata. Further, while some preparation data is presented as “preference”preparation data and some data is presented as “gaming rule” or “gaminglimit” preparation data, it should be understood that some data mayproperly fit in either or both categories, depending upon usage and/orimplementation, and that other examples of data comprising bothcategories, while not explicitly presented, is contemplated herein.

1. Information about the User and the Marketing Offers the User Desires

Many companies are constantly trying to acquire new customers tofacilitate growth. One effective means of acquiring a customer is for acompany to pay a user for his business. For example, a phone companymight pay a user twenty-five dollars ($25.00) if the user agrees to makethe phone company his long distance provider. Such a deal may bebeneficial to the phone company, since the lifetime value of thecustomer to the company may far exceed the twenty-five dollars ($25.00)acquisition cost.

A casino is a fertile environment for customer acquisition. Gamingdevices are capable of immediately dispensing money to consumers.Therefore, a user who is at a gaming device may agree to do businesswith a company and then may immediately receive his payment, rather thanwaiting a week or more for a check to arrive in the mail. Furthermore,casino patrons are often especially motivated to make deals for money. Auser may be feeling frustrated from having sustained a loss, forexample, and may wish to recover the loss by accepting a marketingoffer. The casino itself may be content to facilitate such transactionsbetween users and marketers because the transactions put more availablepotential wager funds in the hands of users. This also pleases users.

Thus, a portion of a user's preparation data may pertain to a user'sinteraction with marketers. Users may submit information that a marketermight use to tailor offers to a user. Examples of such informationinclude the user's age, place of residence, income, job type, educationlevel, marital status, number of children, and other demographicinformation. User purchasing history may be valuable to a marketer. Forexample, a marketer selling cars would want to know whether the userbuys a new car every three years. Other such questions may include “Doesthe user like to remodel rooms in his house?” or “What type of food doesthe user like?” User possessions may be relevant to marketers. Forexample, does the user currently own a car?, a washing machine?, or awide screen TV? A user's budget is meaningful. For example, marketerswould want to know how much money a user has to spend on new items.Whether the user is accompanied on his vacation may be relevant. Forexample, if a user's spouse is with him on the vacation, a marketer maypitch goods as gifts for the user's spouse.

Other preparation data may include the circumstances under which a userwould like to receive marketing offers. Possible circumstances include:the user has just won a payout in excess of a certain threshold; theuser has accumulated winnings in excess of a certain threshold; the userhas sustained losses in excess of a certain threshold; the user has justinserted a bill, such as a one hundred dollar ($100) bill, into a gamingdevice; a particular time of day occurs, for example, the clock hasstruck noon and the user would like lunch offers from local restaurants;it is a particular date; particular weather conditions have transpired;and the user just pressed a button or otherwise indicated that hedesires a marketing offer. In this last case, preparation data mayinclude a specification of how a user will indicate his desire for amarketing offer. For example, the user may be instructed to pull thehandle of the gaming device twice in rapid succession. The user mightalso request a special area on a gaming device's touch screen to appearas a “marketing button” that the user might touch in order to receivemarketing pitches or offers. An additional relevant circumstance mightbe when an event or occurrence has not just happened. For example, auser may be comfortable receiving offers at any time except when he hasjust won on the last three handle pulls or hit a jackpot.

Still other preparation data might include the types of offers a userwould like to receive. Types of offers may include: offers for certaincategories of products, for example, the user would like to receiveoffers for new refrigerators, new blenders, or used lawn mowers; offerswithin a certain price range, for example, the user would like marketersto offer to sell the user items with prices between one hundred dollars($100) and two hundred dollars ($200); offers for products versusservices, for example, the user may prefer only offers to sell products,or only offers to sell services; and offers providing a certain benefit.The user may prefer offers that provide him with benefits of at leasttwenty dollars ($20). For example, the user may be offered a benefit ofthirty dollars ($30) for switching long distance phone services toAT&T®.

The user may commit in advance to accept marketing offers providedcertain conditions are met. For example, the user will switch phoneservices to receive thirty dollars ($30) in credits if he loses thirtydollars ($30) at a session of a gaming device, or at the conclusion ofthe trip. Otherwise, the user need not switch phone services. In someembodiments, the user may also complete paperwork associated with amarketing offer prior to arrival at the casino, so that no time iswasted at the casino. Likewise, during his trip, a user may initiateacceptance of an offer in his hotel room or at a restaurant for example,while the user has free time available. For example, the user may readabout a cross-subsidy offer in which he will receive twenty dollars($20) added to the credit meter of a gaming device from the XYZInsurance Company if he (1) agrees to provide information for and/orevaluate a competitive car insurance quote and (2) agrees to accept aphone call from a car insurance representative. The offer may requirethat the user provide information such as his type of vehicle, thenumber of drivers, the number of miles driven per week, etc. The usermay provide this information online without providing final signatoryauthorization of acceptance. Such an embodiment facilitates easy finalacceptance of the offer during a gambling session if the user decides,at that time, to accept the offer. Casino personnel may be alerted tocome by the user's gaming device with paperwork for a final signature toconsummate the agreement. Alternatively, in some embodiments, a finalacceptance of the agreement may be performed with an electronicsignature or acknowledgement via a casino or other device.

The user may specify where benefits from offers should be placed. Thebenefits might be put directly onto a user's credit balance at a gamingdevice. Benefits might also be deposited directly to a user's financialaccount. Benefits might be sent directly to a user's home or workaddress in the form of cash, check, or non-monetary prize. Benefits maybe placed directly into a user's account at a casino or at the centralcontroller.

Preparation data may further include how the user will indicate, at agaming device, his desire to receive marketing offers. A special area ofa touch screen on a gaming device may be designated for marketingoffers. When the user touches that area, he receives a marketing offer.Alternatively, an existing button on a gaming device that the user doesnot use may have its function reassigned to that of a marketing button.For example, the “bet maximum credits” button may become the marketingbutton for a particular user.

A marketer may transmit offers to a user in a number of ways. Themarketer may leave offers with the central controller, to be latertransmitted to users with qualifying characteristics. The marketer maythen compensate the central controller for every offer made, for everyoffer accepted, etc. In some embodiments, the marketer may communicatewith a user in real time via the central controller. The marketer mayhave real-time access data about users currently at gaming devices or atuser terminals, and may then make its own determinations as to when tomake offers. In offering products to a user, the marketer may refer to aproduct database. The marketer may select from the database productsthat are priced appropriately for a user, that meet other user criteria,and/or that have excess inventory.

2. Information of a Psychological or Superstitious Nature

There is much superstition associated with gaming devices. For example,gaming devices may be known as “hot” when they have recently paid outmore than they have taken in. Similarly, gaming devices that have notpaid out recently may be called “cold.” Users may wish to know whichgaming devices are hot so that they can play on the hot devices. Theuser may also wish to know what types of people have good luck onparticular gaming devices, so that the user may find a gaming devicethat best suits him. For example, if a user is a fifty-six (56) year-oldfemale born in February, then she may wish to find a gaming device thathas previously paid a jackpot to a fifty-six (56) year-old female bornin February. Further, users might wish to know about prior winners at agaming device. For example, they might want to know a prior winner'sname; age; date of birth; time of birth; place of birth; astrologicalsign (e.g., Scorpio, Aries); place of residence; nationality; gender;race; number of kids; date and time on which they won; etc.

A user might have particular statistics in mind when looking for agaming device. For example, if a gaming device has paid well for atleast five Scorpios in the last week, then perhaps the gaming device islikely to be profitable for another Scorpio. The user may then enterwhat statistics he finds desirable into the Web site of the centralcontroller. To enter statistics, the user may fill in a form on thecentral controller's Web page. A line on the form might read, “Find me amachine that paid out a jackpot on this date.” The user may then fill inthe desired date.

The central controller may search a database of gaming device statisticsto find any that meet user criteria. If there are any such gamingdevices, the central controller may display information about them tothe user. For example, the central controller may display the gamingdevices' location, appearance, and any reference number. The centralcontroller may also display one or more maps so as to guide the user tothe gaming devices. A map might show, for example, the layout of acasino floor, with relevant gaming devices highlighted. A user mightelect to be shown a map of all machines that had not had a jackpot ofone thousand dollars ($1000) or more in the last twenty-four (24) hours.Another map might show the location of the casino in a city. Of course,the central controller may be configured to display only machineslocated in a city where a user intends to visit, even if other machinessatisfy user criteria.

At times, there may be a large number of gaming devices meeting theuser's criteria. The central controller may encourage the user to enteradditional criteria or to narrow existing criteria to narrow down thenumber of machines. At other times, the user's criteria may not be met,and the central controller may encourage the user to broaden hiscriteria. The central controller may also display to the user gamingdevices that it considers close to meeting the user's criteria. Perhapsthe gaming devices meet nine (9) out of ten (10) user criteria.

In displaying gaming devices to users, the central controller may givepriority to devices at casinos that have paid the central controllermore money. For example, if a first casino has paid the controller twocents ($0.02) per listing, and a second casino has paid the controllernothing, then a user may see gaming devices from the first casino listedbefore machines from the second casino.

Rather than entering criteria for gaming devices the user would like toplay, the user might enter pertinent information about himself and allowthe central controller to find potentially suitable gaming devices. Forexample, the user might enter his own name, birth date, wedding date,college graduation date, gender, astrological sign, child's birth date,license plate number, and so on. The central controller might thensearch for devices that have paid well for people with similarcharacteristics to the user. For example, the central controller mightsearch for devices that have paid more than one thousand dollars ($1000)on a single handle pull to a person with the same wedding date, withinthe past week. The central controller might also search for devices withsimilar characteristics to the user. For example, the central controllermight look for devices whose date of manufacture or whose serial numberis the same as the user's birthday.

In some embodiments, a central controller receives user information, butdoes not provide the user with information about a suitable gamingdevice until significantly later. For example, if the user is planning atrip to Atlantic City three (3) months in advance, it might not berelevant to the user what gaming devices are paying well at the moment.Therefore, just before the user is to leave for Atlantic City orimmediately upon his arrival, the central controller may tell the userwhat gaming devices pay well, so that the user can leave with currentinformation.

If the user aims to win money to buy particular merchandise, then thecentral controller may allow the user to play directly for themerchandise he desires. For example, when the user plays at a gamingdevice, one of the payouts may be made in the form of the user's desiredmerchandise, rather than in the form of credits. Alternatively, the usermay be told he can have his desired merchandise by accumulating acertain number of credits while playing at a gaming device. The numberof credits a user needs may be far less then the retail price of thedesired merchandise. The user may also be able to obtain his desiredmerchandise using complimentary points, even if the casino at which theuser plays does not typically give out the user's desired merchandise.

3. Music and Pictures of Subjects of Sentimental Value to the User

A user may remotely input pictures or music. For example, the user mayscan a picture of himself, his grandson, and/or of his pet poodle. Theuser might use a scanner attached to the user terminal. Then, when theuser is at a gaming device, the user may select previously scannedpictures to display on the gaming device. For example, the user mayselect the picture of his poodle to display above the spinning slotreels. The user may even have his poodle incorporated as one of thesymbols on the slot reels. To facilitate the selection of pictures bythe user, the gaming device might display small “thumbnail” versions ofeach picture the user has scanned. The user need then only touch thepicture to have it enlarged and more clearly made visible.Alternatively, the user might provide names for the pictures he scans,such as “Poodle.gif”. The user might then select this name from a listof names displayed on the gaming device, or he might simply type in thename using a keypad or other input device.

Other means are possible for transmitting user-selected images to thecentral controller. Many film developers post copies of pictures to Websites. A user might obtain a copy of a picture he has taken from a filmdeveloper's Web site, and send it to the central controller. In somecases, the central controller may act as a film developer. A user mightthen be motivated to develop all of his pictures with the centralcontroller, as the user would then be able to view the pictures on thescreen of a gaming device while playing.

In some embodiments, a user submits printed photographs to the centralcontroller via postal mail. The central controller may then scan thepictures and make them available for display on the user's gamingdevice. A user may also bring photographs or negatives of photographs toa casino. The casino can then scan or develop the pictures and have themdigitized and ready for display on a gaming device. While at a gamingdevice, a user may desire to view pictures other than those he hastaken. He may therefore scan pictures from books or magazines, or obtainpictures from the Web. He may then transmit these to the centralcontroller.

To input music remotely, a user has a number of options. The user mayobtain a sound file, such as an MP3 from a Web site, such as “MP3.com”.The user may then transmit the sound file to the central controller. Thecontroller can then store the sound file in the preparation database.The user may also record his own music using a microphone attached tohis user terminal. He may then transmit the digitized music to thecentral controller.

The central controller, a casino server, a casino, or a gaming devicemay filter out pictures or sound files deemed inappropriate. Computerprograms may examine pictures or sound files and compare them topre-established criteria in deciding whether to permit their use at agaming device. Alternatively, humans may act as censors. Certainpictures or sound files may be permissible only under certainconditions. For example, a sound file may only be permissible if theuser employs earphones, or if there is no one else in the vicinity.

4. Money Held in Reserve to Offset User Losses

A common fear among users is losing too much money at a casino. When theuser runs out of money with which to gamble, the user may become bored.The user may also feel regret, embarrassment, or may even experiencefinancial difficulties. Therefore, in some embodiments of thisinvention, the user may take steps to reduce the possibility ofsuffering excessive losses at a casino.

In some embodiments, the user performs work prior to visiting thecasino. As compensation for his work, the user may receive insuranceagainst losses. For example, in exchange for doing 5 hours worth ofwork, the user may be told, “If you lose $100, we'll refund your $100 tobring back to even again.” The insurance might be capped at a certainamount. The insurance might cover a percentage of losses. The insurancemight also cover losses incurred only during certain time periods, oronly at certain games. Other benefits for work may include: cash;credits; gambling tokens; reward points; increased odds of winning;increased prize tables; the ability to play dollar machines for aquarter; the free use of an extra slot in a multi-slot machine; theability to play for free; the enablement of extra prize-winning symbolson a slot machine; the enablement of extra pay lines on the slotmachine; and auxiliary benefits, such as free or subsidized meals orhotel rooms.

The user may perform work via the Internet. For example, the user maymonitor the output of a security camera and send an email alert when heviews any suspicious activity. The user thereby acts as a remotesecurity guard. The user may answer survey questions of importance tomarketers. The user may participate in focus groups online. The user maymake visual comparisons of products and provide input on which has thebetter packaging. The user may perform his work using a Web site hostedby the central controller. The central controller may thereby monitorthe user's work, and provide the user with benefits accordingly. In someembodiments, the user does work on a separate Web site. The Web site maybe hosted by a merchant associated with the central controller. Afterperforming work, the user may receive a code from the Web site andsubmit the code to the central controller in order to receive credit forhis work. Alternatively, the merchant may contact the central controllerdirectly, and inform the central controller of the user's work.

The user may also perform work off-line. For example, the user may workto assist consumers at a department store. The user may then receive acode from the department store, submit the code to the centralcontroller, and thus receive credit for the work he accomplished.

Instead of doing work, the user may receive insurance against losses, orother benefits, by agreeing to deals with merchants. For example, theuser may agree to switch long distance phone services, or may agree topurchase a new car insurance policy. In exchange, the user may receivemoney that can be used to offset losses at a casino. In someembodiments, a user receives automatic benefits at a casino simply bydoing business with a merchant. For example, for every dollar the userspends at Wal-mart®, the user may receive three cents worth of insuranceagainst losses.

In many cases, a user may have earned money in an account that can beused only to reimburse a user for his losses. The user may, however,visit the casino and win. It is then possible that the user might putthe money in the account to other uses. For example, the user might beable to collect a percentage of the money in the account. The user mightbe able to apply money in the account towards the purchase ofmerchandise, food, a hotel room, gambling credits or other goods.

5. User Credit Lines

Often, a user comes to a casino without sufficient cash to pay for thechips he wants. One option is for the user to go to an ATM or a cashadvance machine. However, for some users, credit limits or dailywithdrawal limits don't allow them to withdraw as much money as theywould like. Therefore, a user may establish a credit line at the casinoand draw a marker against the credit line. To take out a marker, a usermay call up a casino in advance and request a credit line with thecasino. The user will typically have to submit some information abouthimself, including a player tracking card number and checking accountinformation. When the user arrives at the casino he may then present avoided check and several forms of identification. Once the casino grantsthe user a line of credit, the user can request a marker. A marker is alegally binding document, signed by the user, that the user will repaythe casino for any chips given the user to play with. If the user doesnot repay, then the casino can cash the marker at a bank as if it were acheck.

In some embodiments of this invention, the user may set up credit linesremotely using the Web site of the central controller. The user mayinput information of relevance to a casino in granting a credit line.Such information may include a name, home address, telephone number,email address, bank name, checking account number, amount of money inthe checking account, citizenship, desired amount of credit, and so on.In some embodiments, the player also inputs the amount owed to othercasinos.

This information may then be sent to a casino credit executive who maybegin to decide whether to grant the credit line or not. Alternatively,user information may be examined by an automated program. The programmay then help to decide whether or not the credit line should begranted. In some embodiments, the casino credit executive or thecontroller may check with Central Credit® to determine the user's credithistory with other casinos. If the user is listed by Central Credit® asa poor credit risk, then the user may not be granted a credit line.

In some embodiments, the central controller may act as the entity thatprovides credit. The central controller may grant a credit line to auser. The user may then draw a marker at a casino. The casino may thenbe compensated immediately by the central controller in the amount ofthe marker. Then, when a user repays the amount of the marker, thecasino can repay the central controller. The casino may pay a fee to thecentral controller for taking the risk.

Another way for a user to ensure sufficient funds for play at a casinois to wire money in advance to the casino. The user may wire money usingthe Web site of the central controller by providing the centralcontroller with financial account information destination information,and an amount of money to be transferred.

In some embodiments, a user may be permitted to gamble only with moneythat was designated, reserved, deposited, or “earmarked” prior to theuser's visit to the casino. For example, the user may be required tofund an account online, such that once at the casino, the player mayonly gamble with funds in the account (or within a certain “pool” withinthe account, such as a pool set aside for a particular day). Such anembodiment may be particularly useful for problem or compulsive gamblerswho have trouble adhering to self-imposed budgets once on the casinofloor.

6. Look and Feel of the Gaming Device

Prior to visiting a casino, the user may enter data describing adesirable machine interface. Aspects of the machine's interface mayinclude font size, reel speed, language, screen resolution, length ofthe bonus rounds, amount of time between an initiation of a handle pulland the resolution of the outcome, types of symbols, and so on. Eachaspect of the machine's interface may be selectable from a menu, or maybe inputted by the user in a box on the central controller's Web site.Numerous gaming devices are general purpose in that the game played andthe interface to the game played on the gaming device are coded insoftware. Thus, many gaming devices have the flexibility to provide auser with his desired interface. This may generally be described as onetype of preference preparation data, as it generally related to aspectsof game play and/or interface appearance and/or functionality that arepreferred by the player.

7. Which Gaming Devices the User Would Like to Play

Using the Web site of the central controller, the user may have theopportunity to test different gaming device configurations, anddifferent gaming devices themselves. In some embodiments, the userselects a gaming device configuration, and then the central controllerdisplays a graphical representation of the gaming device in the selectedconfiguration. For example, if the user has selected a gaming deviceconfiguration with five reels and three pay lines, then the user mayview on the user terminal a graphical representation of a five reelgaming device with three pay lines. The user may simulate spins on hisuser terminal, with a simulated credit meter incrementing anddecrementing based on simulated outcomes. By testing various gamingdevice configurations in advance, the user has the opportunity to seewhich configurations are pleasing to the senses. The user also candetermine which configurations are lucky for him. Once the user hasfound a desired configuration, the central controller may indicate tothe user where he might find actual gaming devices capable of supportingthe desired configuration. For instance the central controller mightshow the user a map of a country, state, city, or casino floor, withrelevant gaming devices or locations highlighted. The central controllermay also provide the user with written directions to a gaming device.

On the controller's Web site, the user may also take the opportunity totest new games he otherwise would never have played. For example, atraditional mechanical reel player may test a video slot machine. Or areel player may test a video poker or blackjack machine. In fact, thecentral controller may encourage and reward the user for trying games hedoes not usually play. For example, the central controller may offer theuser a voucher for a free meal at a particular restaurant if the userplays a new word-bonus game for an hour on the central controller's Website. Familiarizing a user with new games is advantageous for a casino,because the user is then comfortable playing a number of games at thecasino, and is less likely to leave if one of the games no longer suitshim. Therefore, casinos may compensate the central controller for anybenefits given a user for testing new games.

After testing gaming device configurations, or new gaming devices on thecontroller's Web site, the user may reserve a gaming device to use at acasino. By making a reservation, the user may assure that he mayapproach a particular gaming device at an appointed time and find it notin use by other users. Thus, a reserved gaming device may freeze (remainunplayable) and unlock only for a user who inserts a player trackingcard that has a user identifier matching the user identifier of the usermaking the reservation. However, if the user does not unlock the gamingdevice within a certain time period, then the device may becomeavailable to other users. The user may commit money so as to reserve agaming device. The money may be an outright payment, or it may becomepart of a user's credit balance when the user appears at the gamingdevice. The user may forfeit part of the money if he does not appear atthe reserved time. A reservation may also be linked to a hotelreservation. For example, part of a user's reservation package at acasino resort may be a room for three nights and a particular gamingdevice for three days from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.

A user may also test new games that have not yet been placed on casinofloors. The user may provide feedback on these games. The user'sfeedback may allow a gaming device manufacturer to make a decision onwhether to move forward with the production of a game. Feedback may alsohelp a casino to decide whether or not to purchase certain gamingdevices. The user may be compensated for his feedback on new games. Forexample, the user may earn the privilege of being the first to play anew gaming device when it is introduced onto a casino floor.

8. Financial Returns of the Gaming Device

Prior to visiting a casino, the user may enter preparation datadescribing the way money is paid out from a gaming device. The user mayspecify such parameters as a frequency with which the device pays, thehold percentage, the size of the jackpot, the size of lesser payouts,the frequency with which particular payouts occur, and so on. The usermay not necessarily get everything he asks for, however. For example,the user may not be allowed to have a gaming device configured to payback more than one hundred percent (100%). The central controller mayadjust certain parameters based on other parameters the user chooses.For example, if the user desires a high payout frequency, then thecentral controller may lower the odds of hitting a jackpot and increasethe odds of hitting a low payout. Thus, the hold percentage of themachine may be held constant. If the user attempts to enter parametersthat would force the machine to pay back more then one hundred percent(100%) of coin-in, then the user may be prevented from doing so. Forexample, selection boxes on the central controller's Web site may begrayed out or disabled.

In some embodiments, the user may submit preparation data to configure agaming device to pay back more than one hundred percent (100%) ofcoin-in. In such cases, the user may have to pay or may have to accept amarketing offer. The user may also be time-limited in his use of thegaming device under the specified configuration.

The user may also remotely indicate the types of bets he would like tomake at a gaming device. The types of bets may not be ones that arecurrently enabled by a gaming device. For example, a user might wish tobet on the occurrence of an outcome that does not pay (i.e., a losingoutcome). Then, if a normally losing outcome occurs, the user mayreceive a small pay out. The user may wish to bet on five cherriesoccurring within three consecutive spins, on obtaining a winning outcomefor threes spins in a row, on obtaining a bar on the middle reel, etc.There are, in fact, an infinite number of statistics describing theoutcomes of a gaming device, for which no bets exist.

When the user creates a non-standard bet, the central controller maycalculate the odds of the user winning his bet, and may then determinean appropriate pay out for winning the bet. For example, a gaming devicemay determine that the odds of five (5) cherries occurring within three(3) particular consecutive spins are twenty-one (21) to one (1) against.To provide the casino with an advantage, the controller may determinethat a twenty (20) to one (1) pay out is appropriate for a bet on theoccurrence of five (5) cherries in three (3) particular consecutivespins.

9. The User Interface

A typical gaming device may have only a few limited mechanisms for userinput. A device might have physical buttons, with labels such as “bet 1credit”, “bet maximum credits”, “cash out”, “hold”, and “spin”. Thephysical buttons may be replicated on a touch screen, so that a usermight touch either a physical button or the touch screen of a gamingdevice in order to accomplish a particular function. However, topractice some embodiments of the present invention, or for otherreasons, a user may require a richer interface to the gaming device. Forexample, the user may prefer to bet seven credits on every handle pullof a gaming device. Rather than pressing the “bet 1 credit” button seventimes, the user might desire a special button reading “bet 7 credits”.Therefore, using the Web site of the central controller, the user maycreate a desired user interface for a gaming device. The following is apartial list of other buttons a user may create for use in interactingwith the gaming device.

Marketing buttons, such as “Give me an offer” or “Accept offer.” Theseallow a user to receive and accept marketing offers so as to receivemore gambling funds, insurance against losses, good deals, etc.

Buttons to make a particular type of bet, or a bet for a particularnumber of credits. For example, a button might place a bet on aparticular character in the bonus round of a Monopoly™ game landing on aparticular property. A button might place a bet on a losing outcomeoccurring.

A button to cash out only a particular number or a particular percentageof credits. For instance, a user may wish to cash out only enoughcredits to tip a waitress.

A button to undo whatever the last action was. Perhaps the user hit the“bet maximum credits” button by mistake, but has not yet made a handlepull. The user may wish to undo his last action and only bet two (2)credits.

A button to redo a previous bet, game, or action. Perhaps the user'slast bet covered five (5) pay lines with two (2) coins per line. The betturned out a winner for the user. Therefore, the user may press the“redo” button to repeat the bet. The user may be at a video pokermachine, and wish to draw once again to a royal flush (the draw havingbeen unsuccessful on the previous hand). Pressing the “redo” button, theuser may get the chance to draw once again to the royal flush. However,the second time around, the user may have to make a larger wager. A usermay wish to redo a bet in a particular way. Perhaps the exact time atwhich the bet was made was fortuitous. For example, three and a halfseconds past the minute mark. Perhaps it was the exact way in which hepulled the handle. The gaming device may automatically replicate the waythe user pulled the handle on a first bet in making the second bet.

A button to bet fractional numbers of credits. For example, the user maybet one third of a credit on a handle pull by pressing a special button.

The new buttons created by the user may be displayed as areas on thetouch screen of a gaming device. Alternatively, instead of creating anew button, a gaming device may understand inputs from an old button ashaving a new meaning. For example, a button that is labeled “bet maximumcredits” on a gaming device may be understood as “give me an offer” whenpressed by a particular user. Thus, the central controller may tell theuser, “When you want to get a marketing offer, just press the ‘betmaximum credits’ button and ignore the meaning of what is written on thebutton.” In some embodiments, gaming devices are manufactured withphysical buttons labeled “marketing button” or “get me an offer” or withsome similar label. These buttons may be dedicated solely to the purposeof allowing players to request marketing offers.

10. The Form of Complimentaries the User is to Receive

The complimentary (“comp”) system is an important promotional feature atmost casinos. The complimentary system allows users to receive benefitsbased on the user's amount of play. For example, a user might beeligible for a free meal at a casino restaurant for every three thousanddollars ($3,000) gambled at the casino. One aspect of the disclosedinvention is allowing a user to choose what types of complimentarybenefits he would like to receive. The user may choose, for example, toreceive free meals, reduced hotel rates, free show tickets, line passes,cash, credits, or merchandise. Where the user chooses merchandise that acasino does not typically give out, the casino or central controller mayorder the merchandise for the user. In fact, a significant advantage ofthe user's remotely choosing merchandise as a complimentary item is thatthe casino or the central controller has time to obtain the merchandisebefore the user visits the casino. The user may also disclose hisintention to gamble for a certain amount so that the casino orcontroller can have a better assurance that the user will actually earnenough complimentary points to receive the merchandise the user hasdesignated.

In addition to specifying the form of complimentary items, the user mayalso specify the amount and the type of play necessary to earn thecomplimentary items. For example, the user might say that he wants toearn something for playing the quarter ($0.25) slot machines for six (6)hours. What follows is a partial list of activities the user may specifyas activities that earn complimentary items:

1. The user plays for a certain amount of time;

2. The user makes a certain number of handle pulls;

3. The user wins a certain net or gross amount;

4. The user loses a certain net or gross amount;

5. The user inserts a certain total amount of money; and/or

6. The user makes wagers totaling a certain amount.

In addition to specifying complimentaries for himself, a user mayspecify them for friends, relatives, third parties, and/or others.

11. Gambling Rules

As stated, in one or more embodiments, a user and/or a third party mayset limits or rules governing, for one or more specific users, (i) thetypes of wagers that may be allowed (e.g., which paylines may beactivated on a slot machine; the maximum wager amount per handle pull);(ii) the maximum net wager amount per period of time; (iii) the maximumnet loss amount per period of time; (iv) the maximum net win amount perperiod of time; (v) the maximum rate at which handle pulls may bepermitted; (vi) the maximum period of time for which one or more gamingmachine(s) will be operable (e.g., starting from a triggering handlepull); (vii) the maximum number of handle pulls permitted per period oftime; (viii) the days and/or hours that one or more gaming machine(s)may be operable; (ix) the sources of funds that may be used to placewagers (e.g., certain players may only play with stored value or debitcards; certain players may only play with “won” money after a thresholdamount of cash is wagered); (x) the types of games which may bepermitted (e.g., slots only; all games except video poker); (xi) theidentities or types of gaming machines which may or may not be permitted(e.g., only on machine number “1234651”; only on twenty-five cent($0.25) denomination slot machines); and/or (xii) any other gamblingattribute.

With respect to limiting the types of wagers that may be allowed, a userand/or third party may specify, for example:

-   -   1. The types of outcomes which a user may wager upon, including        but not limited to:        -   (i) Which/how many paylines on a slot machine may be            activated; and/or        -   (ii) The odds of winning a certain type of outcome (e.g., a            player may be prevented from placing certain “long shot”            bets);    -   2. The maximum or minimum economic (e.g., dollar) value of one        or more wagers; and/or    -   3. The times when certain wagers may be permitted (e.g., between        7-10 PM only; on Saturdays and Sundays only).

With respect to limiting the maximum period of time for which one ormore gaming machine(s) will be operable for specific player, a user andor third party may specify, for example:

-   -   1. How the time period will be defined or determined, such as        by:        -   (i) Determining the conditions which are to denote the            beginning of the time period (e.g., a particular player's            first handle pull of a particular day may denote the            beginning of a period during that day);        -   (ii) Determining the conditions which are to denote the            ending of the time period; and/or        -   (iii) Determining conditions which will trigger a “tolling”            or “pausing” of the time period and/or the duration of any            tolling period or pause (e.g., if the player presents his            player tracking at a casino-owned restaurant, the player's            accruing time may be extended by one half (½) hour to allow            him to dine).

With respect to limiting the sources of funds that may be used by aspecific player to place wagers, a user and/or third party may specify,for example:

-   -   1. The type of payment or currency that may be used (e.g., cash        only, quarters only, no credit cards, only stored value cards,        only debit cards; and/or    -   2. The nature of the funds used to place wagers (e.g., players        may only play with “won” money after a threshold amount of cash        is wagered).

Applicants have also recognized that users and/or third parties (e.g.,spouses, creditors, taxing authorities such as the Internal RevenueService) may wish to designate, prior to a user's gambling experience,how specifically any resulting gambling winnings will be paid (to whom,in what amount, when). Often, a user has preconceived ideas about whatto do with his winnings at a casino, or what to do when he wins, orloses. Too often, a user leaves a casino wishing he had quit when he wasup one hundred dollars ($100), or wishing he hadn't gone to the ATM asecond time, etc. Therefore, a user may input rules that will govern hisactions at the casino. Remote from the emotions and pressures of thecasino floor, the user will better be able to decide how to handle hismoney.

One set of rules a user and/or third party might input describes how theuser will allocate winnings among various causes. For example, the userand/or third party may wish to allocate two percent (2%) of winnings topay for his hotel bill, three percent (3%) to pay for a credit cardbill, ten percent (10%) to go into a gift fund for his wife, and threepercent (3%) to go toward his child's college tuition. With these rulesin place, the controller may set up multiple accounts for the user, andhave the casino server automatically divert portions of the user'swinnings to the designated accounts. For example, after a user wins onehundred dollars ($100) on a handle pull, the casino server maycommunicate this information to a central controller. The centralcontroller may then increment a user's hotel bill account by two dollars($2), credit card payment account by three dollars ($3), wife giftaccount by ten dollars ($10), and child tuition account by three dollars($3). At predetermined time intervals, the user may be asked (e.g., bythe central controller, casino server, or gaming device) whether themoney in the designated accounts should actually be applied to thedesignated purpose, for example, to pay off line items on the user'shotel bill. Upon the user's approval, money in his hotel bill accountmay be eliminated, and his hotel bill reduced by the correspondingamount. Similarly, money in his wife gift account may actually be usedto purchase a gift (the user may have also designated the gift as partof his rules). According to some embodiments, some or all of thedistributions pursuant to the player's allocation may be tax exemptand/or tax deferred. In the case that the child tuition account is a taxdeferred and/or tax exempt account, for example, the IRS may allowpre-designated

The following are exemplary rules or fragments of rules that may governthe user's allocation of winnings:

-   -   1. A fixed percentage of each payout the user wins goes into one        or more accounts. Thus, if a user wins two dollars ($2) on a        handle pull, two cents ($0.02) may be allocated to a particular        account;    -   2. A variable percentage of each payout the user wins goes into        one or more accounts. The percentage may depend on the size of        the payout, the time of day, the user's net winnings thus far,        the amount already put into one or more accounts, etc.;    -   3. A portion of a payout goes into an account only upon the        realization of some random event. For example, a rule might        govern that for every credit a user wins, a random number        between one (1) and one hundred (100) is to be generated. If the        number is five (5) or less, then the credit goes into a first        account. If the number if between six (6) and ten (10), the        credit goes into a second account, and so on; and/or    -   4. One or more credits is taken out of a user's winnings at        fixed intervals. For example, after the user wins        ninety-nine (99) credits, regardless of how long it takes, the        one hundredth (100^(th)) credit is taken out and placed in a        particular account for the user. In another embodiment, one or        more credits may be taken from a user device at fixed time        intervals and placed into a particular account, provided the        user has credits on his gaming device.

More generally, a user and/or a third party may set rules fordetermining and/or triggering an action that may be performed by acentral controller, a casino server, a gaming device, a user terminal, athird party service provider server, or any other device or computer.For example, a user and/or third party may set any one or more of thefollowing rules for determining and/or triggering an action:

-   -   1. The user is encouraged to quit after some condition has been        met;        -   (i) The condition might be that the user has lost a certain            amount; the user has lost on a certain number of consecutive            handle pulls; the user has won a certain amount; the user            has played for a certain amount of time; etc.;        -   (ii) Upon the triggering of the condition, the gaming device            may strictly enforce the user-defined rule by, for example,            forcibly cashing out the user and ceasing to operate so long            as the user's player tracking card is inserted.            Alternatively or additionally, the player may be restricted            from playing at one or more gaming machines for a            predetermined period of time, such as one hour or one day;        -   (iii) In some embodiments, upon the triggering of the            condition, the gaming device may simply encourage the user            to quit. For example, a device may remind the player that he            had intended to after wagering a certain amount, etc. The            gaming device might also suggest some alternative activities            for the user. For example, the user might visit the casino's            restaurant, bar, or show. An exemplary input of the user            into the Web site of the central controller is, “Cash me out            if I win $100 or if I'm down $100.” In another example, a            user may specify “If I lose more than $100.00 within one            hour, freeze access to my casino stored funds for            twenty-four hours”; and/or        -   (iv) In some embodiments, upon the triggering of the            condition, the gaming device may prompt a player with an            output (e.g., a message or a question) that may require a            particular input (e.g., an acknowledgement or answer) in            order for the player to continue wagering. For example, a            gaming device may prompt a player with a message            illuminating the dangers of problem gambling, to which the            user must input an acknowledgement (e.g., “I acknowledge            these dangers”) in order to proceed. In another example, a            user must successfully answer a trivia question related to            problem gambling in order to proceed. Such actions may            increase awareness and education with respect to problem            gambling;    -   2. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might        be configured to trigger a notification message to a third party        after a condition has been met. For example, if a player wagers        and loses more than a certain dollar amount within a certain        period of time, the casino server may email a problem gambling        counselor and/or the player's spouse. Or, if the player wagers        more than a certain dollar amount within a certain period of        time, the casino server may trigger an automated outbound        interactive voice response unit to place a phone call to the        player's spouse, whose cellular telephone number may be        registered in a database. Further, if the player wagers more        than a certain dollar amount within a certain period of time, a        casino representative may be notified through the systems so        that the player may be addressed in a hands-on manner;    -   3. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might        be configured to open a communication link between the player        and a third party after a condition has been met. For example,        in one embodiment, if a player wagers and loses more than a        certain dollar amount within a certain period of time, the        casino server may instruct the gaming device at which the player        is sitting to open an instant messaging program so that a        problem gambling counselor may be brought online and made        available to the player. Alternatively, a telephone call to a        telephone associated with the player may be initiated so that        the player may be connected to a problem gambling counselor;    -   4. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might        be configured to, upon the occurrence of the triggering        condition, slow down the rate at which play may be permitted at        one or more gaming devices, lower the amount that may be wagered        at one or more gaming devices, or the like;    -   5. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might        be configured to, upon the occurrence of the triggering        condition, permit the player to:        -   (i) only play for “free” (i.e., where no wagers can be            placed and no money can be won); and/or        -   (ii) only play with very small “micro-bets” (e.g., one            percent (1%) of a machine's denomination);    -   6. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might        be configured to, upon the occurrence of the triggering        condition, require the player to:        -   (i) sacrifice any “comp” points earned to-date; and/or        -   (ii) obtain the consent of a third party before resuming            (e.g., a problem gambling counselor or spouse might have to            enter a code into a website which reactivates the player's            gaming permissions);    -   7. A gaming device might be configured to, upon the occurrence        of the triggering condition, output an audio or video clip to        the player. The recording may provide a reminder to the player        that he should stop gaming. This audio or video clip may be a        recording of a friend or family member of the player, the        player's gaming counselor, a celebrity, the player himself, or        some other person with whom the player feels an affinity. For        example, a player's gaming counselor may use a video camera to        record clips of the player's friends and family members        encouraging the player to stop gaming. These video clips may        then be provided to a casino so that they can be output to the        player an appropriate time;    -   8. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might        be configured to, upon the occurrence of the triggering        condition, rescind a benefit that has been or would have been        provided to the player. For example, the player may be prevented        from earning any “comp” points during the remainder of his        gaming session, the player may lose access to one or more        features on the game machine (e.g., auto-play mode, free play        mode, free movies and phone calls while gaming), or a player may        be prevented from receive free drinks while gaming; and/or    -   9. The gaming device, casino server, or the central controller        manages the user's wagers so that the user does not lose all of        his money prior to a certain time. For example, the user might        say, “I don't want to lose all of my $100 buy-in within a three        hour period.” Then, the gaming device might steadily decrease        the user's wager size as he loses money, to make sure he does        not run out within a three (3) hour period. If the user begins        to win money, the gaming device may increase the size of the        user's wager.

In some embodiments, gambling rules and/or limits for a specific usermay not be changed or eliminated for a period of time following theregistration of such rules or limits. Thus, a user who voluntarilyregisters limits on his gambling ability may not be permitted to, forexample, eliminate or otherwise modify such limits immediately beforevisiting a casino so long as his planned visit is within the period.Although the effective periods of various limitations and rules may befixed or predetermined (e.g., a number of days or hours followingregistration), such periods may alternatively be of variable-length, forexample, based on one or more factors such as (1) a player's winnings orlosses during the period, (2) a player's savings or payment patternsduring the period, (3) input from third parties during the period (e.g.,a problem gambling counselor may modify the effective period of a rule),etc. For example, if a player loses more than two hundred dollars ($200)during the period, the period may be extended by ten (10) days. Or, if aplayer has demonstrated to the computer system that he's saved fiftydollars ($50) into a savings account during the period, the period maybe shortened by five (5) days. Further, if a player has demonstratedthat he's paid various financial obligations during the period (e.g., amortgage, taxes, child support, etc.), the period may be shortened.Further still, if a problem gambling counselor feels that a player has(or has not) made progress towards controlling an addiction, thecounselor may shorten (or lengthen) a period.

12. Information About Contracts for which the User Wants to Sign Up

Gaming contracts are a way for a user to purchase (and for a casino tosell) large blocks of handle pulls at once. Over the course of a largenumber of handle pulls, certain statistics become more pronounced. Forexample, whereas after a small number of handle pulls, a user may or maynot come out ahead, the user is almost guaranteed to come out behindafter a large number of handle pulls. This is because the housemaintains a small edge on every handle pull. Therefore, in selling largeblocks of handle pulls to a user, the casino can afford to providediscounts or other benefits. One attractive benefit is insuring a useragainst losses. Thus, a user may pay to make twenty thousand (20,000)handle pulls with the provision that he keeps any winnings but is notliable for any losses. Aside from being able to offer attractiveincentives for contract purchases, the casino also benefits from lockingthe user into a large number of pulls.

The user also benefits from contract play. As mentioned, the user mayinsure himself against losses. The user may also ensure that he canafford a large number of pulls by purchasing them all at once. Then, heneedn't worry about running out of money before his planned stay at thecasino ends. Another benefit is that, having purchased a large number ofhandle pulls at once, the user need not necessarily be present when theyare executed. Thus, the user may go off to have lunch or may even leavethe state while handle pulls are made on his behalf. The user thenenjoys an experience akin to that of remote gambling.

In some embodiments of this invention, the user may structure and orpurchase contracts at the Web site of the central controller. Instructuring a contract, the user may designate any of the following:

-   -   1. The number of handle pulls in the contract;    -   2. The wager amount for each of the handle pulls;    -   3. The game to be played (e.g., IGT®'s Triple Diamond®, or        Double Bonus Poker®); and/or    -   4. The price of the contract.

The user may also or alternatively provide gambling instructions suchthat a gaming device might generate outcomes for the user automatically.Such instructions may relate to the outcomes of a contract, or tooutcomes unrelated to a contract. Exemplary instructions may include:

-   -   1. The frequency with which outcomes are to be generated (e.g.,        make ten (10) handle pulls per minute);    -   2. The total number of outcomes to be generated (e.g., make one        thousand (1,000) handle pulls); and/or    -   3. The way new outcomes are to be generated or new wagers are to        be made in dependence on old outcomes (e.g., “double up my bets        every time I lose”, and “go back to 25 cents per pull when I        win”. Or “double the rate of handle pulls when I have lost more        than five times in a row”, but “halve the rate of handle pulls        when I have won a payout of more than $10”. Or “stop after I        have won or lost $100”).

Once the user has submitted preparation data describing a contractand/or gambling instructions, the user may name or otherwise identifythe contract. For example, the user may call a contract “Superlucksystem.” Then, when the user appears in person at a gaming device, heneed only select the Superluck system to begin contract play.

13. Travel Arrangement Information

Using the Web site of the central controller, the user may make traveland accommodation arrangements. The user may select, for example, thehotel at which he would like to stay, the days he would like to stay,the grade of room, the transportation he would like to take from theairport, the airline he would like to fly, etc. In some embodiments, theuser may provide travel dates and allow the central controller to find asuitable hotel for the user. For example, the central controller mightfind a hotel with rooms available, a hotel with the cheapest room rates,or a hotel that gives benefits for staying there (e.g. free meals).

The user may receive various gaming related benefits for making travelarrangements using the central controller. For example, he may receivefive dollars ($5) in free gaming chips for every one hundred dollars($100) worth of travel arrangements he makes using the centralcontroller.

14. Friends' E-mail Addresses

At the central controller's Web site, the user may enter the emailaddresses of friends, relatives or other people the user may wish tocontact during a gambling session. The user may wish to contact people,for example, if he has just had a string of good luck and wishes toshare his excitement with others. The user may also wish to contactothers to solicit encouragement if he has not been doing so well. Theuser may also simply want to chat while playing the slots. By enteringemail addresses remotely, a user has access to an address book, forexample, and need not memorize all his friends' addresses. The remotelyentered addresses then become available to the user at a gaming device.For example, the name of a user's friend may be listed on a touch screenof the user's gaming device. The user need then only touch the friend'sname, compose a message, and touch a “send” button on the touch screenin order to send an email message to his friend. In addition to friends'or relatives' email addresses, the user may enter AOL Instant Messenger®handles, phone numbers, or other contact information for friends.

In some embodiments, the user gives the central controller or one ormore casino servers permission to contact one or more of his friends.The central controller may then market to the user's friends by, forexample, urging the user's friends to visit a casino associated with thecentral controller. The user may receive a benefit for allowing hisfriends to be contacted. In some embodiments, friends are contacted onbehalf of the user. For example, the user says, send an email to myfriend “Joe Smith” every time I win more than forty dollars ($40) on ahandle pull. The user may even compose the message beforehand. Themessage might read, “I've just won $x, don't you wish you had come withme?”

15. The User's Gaming Circle

A user may register one or more other people to benefit from his gamingand/or gambling. These registered beneficiaries are termed the user's“gaming circle” and/or “gambling circle”, as applicable. For example,the user registers several friends, each to receive ten percent (10%) ofany jackpot the user receives. Alternatively, a user may specify one ormore friends of a gaming circle, where the friends are registered toreceive various gaming benefits associated with the user's play, such aspoints, credits, demos, cheat codes, and/or the unlocking of gaminglevels. Creating a gambling circle has several advantages. A user canleave for a trip to a casino with the psychological backing of friends,relatives, or coworkers. When he wins, he not only feels good aboutreceiving money, but also about having won money for his gamblingcircle. Furthermore, when the user returns from his trip, his gamblingcircle will be more interested in how the trip went and in any goodstories the user has to tell. Describing his trip to his gambling circleadds to the fun of the user's experience.

A user may register members of his gambling circle by entering theirnames, e-mail addresses, and/or home addresses when logged into the Website of the central controller. These may be stored, for example, in thegaming circle database 1100 of FIG. 11. When a user registers members ofhis gaming and/or gambling circle, he may specify what benefits they areto receive. The following is a partial list of possible benefits:

-   -   1. A percentage of any jackpot the user wins;    -   2. A percentage of the user's gross winnings;    -   3. A percentage of the user's net winnings (dollars, credits,        points, etc.);    -   4. A percentage of the user's jackpots, net, or gross winnings        during a certain time frame (e.g., from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM every        day);    -   5. A percentage of the user's jackpots, net, or gross winnings,        capped at a certain amount. (e.g., five percent (5%) of net        winnings up to a maximum of fifty dollars ($50));    -   6. A non-monetary prize which is dependent on the user's        winnings (e.g., a fifty dollar ($50) gift certificate at        Amazon.com® if the user wins any jackpot over one thousand        dollars ($1,000)); and/or    -   7. One or more game play benefits such as points, experience        levels, free demos, bonus levels, characters, and/or        capabilities, and/or the unlocking of game features such as        levels.

Benefits given the members of a user's gaming and/or gambling circle mayor may not detract from a user's own winnings. For example, if the userwins a one thousand dollar ($1,000) jackpot, and has signed up a memberto receive five percent (5%) of any such jackpot, then the user mayreceive only nine hundred and fifty dollars ($950) of the jackpot.Alternatively, the user may receive the full one thousand dollars($1,000), and the casino or other party (such as a marketer) may providethe extra fifty dollars ($50) due the member of the gambling circle. Ifit is the casino that will provide the extra money to compensate amember of a gambling circle, then the casino may require some action ofthe user or the member of the gambling circle before providing themoney. For example, the casino may require the member of the gamblingcircle to pick up the fifty dollars ($50) at the casino. The casinowould then benefit from having a potential customer visit the casino. Amarketer providing the extra fifty dollars ($50) might require themember of the gambling circle to test one of the marketer's products.For example, a car dealer might require the member of the gamblingcircle to test drive the dealer's car before receiving the fifty dollars($50).

In some embodiments, the benefits given the members of a user's gamblingcircle bear little relationship to the user's winnings. For example,members of a gambling circle may receive benefits only when a user losesin excess of a certain amount. As another example, a member benefitswhen the user gets an outcome of “lemon-cherry-bar,” which mayordinarily be a non-winning outcome.

A member of a gambling circle may receive any benefits due him in anumber of ways. The casino may send cash, a check, a money order, avoucher for casino chips, or a prize in the mail. The casino may wiremoney, send digital cash, or deposit money directly to a financialaccount of the gambling circle member. The casino may simply notify amember of a user's gambling circle of what the user has won, with thepresumption that the member would then collect from the user. Many otherways are possible for a casino or marketer to provide a benefit.

16. Intentionality Information

Knowing a user's intended activities can be valuable for a casino orother marketer. Intended activities may include such things as when auser intends to visit Las Vegas; how long a user intends to stay in LasVegas; how much a user intends to gamble; where a user intends togamble; where a user intends to eat and how much he intends to spend;where a user intends to stay; what his shopping budget is; and so on.Knowing a user's intentions, a marketer can try to pitch products orservices that suit the user's intentions. For example, if a user plansto stay in Las Vegas for four days, a hotel might offer the user aspecial rate based on a four-night stay. Also, when the user is in LasVegas on his last day, a casino may be willing to sell a product to theuser. The casino would not ordinarily wish to divert a user's money fromgambling. However, knowing that the user is there for his last day, thecasino might deduce that a larger profit would come from selling aproduct to the user than would come from allowing the user to gamble forhis small remaining amount of time.

A user may submit his intentions to the central controller via thecentral controller's Web site. The user may respond to specificquestions, such as “How many people are you traveling with,” by keyingin a number or by selecting from multiple answer choices, such as “1”,“2”, “3”, or “more than 3”. The user may also provide more free-formanswers, either by typing them in or by speaking into a microphone. Freeform answers may be responses to questions such as “What do you plan todo during your vacation?” The free form answers may then be interpretedby a human or a computer program.

The user may be compensated for submitting his intentions. For example,the user may receive compensation for each question he answers. Thecompensation might depend on the value of the user's answers to a casinoor marketer. For example, a user may receive more compensation foranswering, “What is your gambling budget?” than for answering “Where doyou intend to eat lunch on Sunday?”

As the user answers questions, new questions may be posed to the userbased on his answers to old ones. For example, if the user says his tripto Las Vegas is to last four (4) days, he may then be asked where heplans to stay. However, a user who indicates his trip is only a day tripmay not be asked where he intends to stay.

A casino or a marketer may try to influence a user to alter hisexpressed intentions, perhaps with the offer of a special deal. Forexample, if the user intends to gamble at a first casino, then a secondcasino may offer the user twenty dollars ($20) in free casino orgambling chips if the user goes there instead. If the user only plans tostay three (3) nights, then a hotel may offer him a discount on roomrates for a fourth (4^(th)) and fifth (5^(th)) night.

A casino or marketer may also or alternatively encourage a user tocommit to his intentions. For example, the user may say he intends tospend about one hundred dollars ($100) shopping at a particular casino.The casino, knowing the user could always change his mind, might ask theuser to commit to the one hundred dollars ($100) worth of shopping. Forcommitting, the user might receive a benefit, such as a twenty-dollar($20) gift certificate at one of the casino's stores. There may bevarious ways of enforcing the user's commitment. For example, the usermay have to deposit a certain amount of money with the centralcontroller. The user may lose the money if he does not honor hiscommitment.

A user may submit information about his friends' intentions. Perhaps theuser knows how long his friends are staying, where they are staying,where they like to gamble, where they like to eat, and so on. The usermight provide friends' contact information along with theirintentionally data, so that a casino or marketer may contact the user'sfriends.

Along with information about his intentions, a user may submitinformation about his obligations. Obligations may be thought of as astronger form of intentions, where there is some psychological pressureon a user to perform an action. For example, the user is obligated toleave after four (4) days because he has to go to work on the fifth(5^(th)) day. A user may similarly receive compensation for submittingobligations. A marketer may not try as hard to get a user to commit tohis obligations, nor to convince a user not to fulfill obligations.

The central controller may infer user intentions or obligations. If theuser has already made a reservation with a casino's hotel, for example,then the central controller may receive such reservation informationfrom the casino hotel. The central controller then knows how long a userintends to spend on a vacation. The central controller may also refer toexisting data about the user. For example, if the central controller hasa record of the user's prior hotel stays in Las Vegas, and the user hasstayed in Las Vegas for an average of five (5) days during each of thelast six (6) years, then the central controller may infer that the userintends to stay in Las Vegas for five (5) days during an upcomingvacation.

Knowing a user's intentions and obligations, the central controller mayemploy principles of revenue management in providing offers to the user.For example, if the central controller knows a user has a one hundredand fifty dollar ($150) food budget, then the central controller mightoffer the user a meal at a restaurant for twenty dollars ($20). “Sam”,who has a five hundred dollar ($500) food budget, might get the samemeal offered for thirty dollars ($30). The central controller might alsooffer the user food or products of a perishable nature, perhaps at areduced price.

17. Entertainment And Convenience Information

Gaming devices may have the capability of providing a number ofentertainment or convenience features beyond the mere play of the game.For example, gaming devices may allow the user to view television ormovies, to access the Internet, to place phone calls, to do wordprocessing, to listen to music, and so on. Therefore, a user may submitpreparation data detailing the entertainment and convenience features hewould like. What follows are some examples of user requests:

-   -   1. The user requests continuous access to ESPN® whenever playing        the slots;    -   2. The user requests to place twenty (20) minutes worth of phone        calls to any place in the U.S. for each three hours gambled;    -   3. The user requests to watch first run movies while playing the        slots;    -   4. The user requests access to the Internet and to word        processing software while at the slots;    -   5. The user requests access to instant messaging while at the        slots;    -   6. The user requests free access to two pay Web sites while        playing the slots; and/or    -   7. The user request to hear the top fifty (50) songs on the        country music charts while playing the slots.

The user may also or alternatively request particular entertainmentfeatures, including movies and TV shows, for his hotel room.

18. Information About the User's Preferred Environmental Conditions

A user may submit preparation data on what environmental conditions mostsuit him. The user might provide preparation data pertaining to ambienttemperature, ambient lighting, proximity of machines to each other, thecrowdedness of the casino floor, the noise level of the casino, and thesmokiness and ventilation of the casino. In addition, preparation datamay pertain to the number of casino personnel available to serve a user.For example, the user may desire a casino employee to help with baggage.The user may desire a particular frequency of waiters bringing drinks.Users may specify preparation data that pertains to the user's preferreddrink or drinks. Knowing these, a waitress would be able to bring theuser drinks without asking what he would like. The user may also submitpreparation data about when he would like to be served drinks. Then, awaitress could bring drinks to a user without his ever asking. Users mayspecify preparation data that pertains to casino devices in a particularconfiguration. For example, the user might prefer machines that are atthe end of a row, that are isolated, or that are in an arcconfiguration.

19. Scrapbook Information

A trip centered on gambling may constitute a major vacation for a user.The average visitor to Las Vegas spends more than four (4) days there. Avisitor often comes in by airplane. Furthermore, visitors to Las Vegasseek out numerous forms of entertainment in addition to gambling.

As with any vacation, the user wishes to enjoy himself and to retainmemories of his best experiences. A casino may assist a user inretaining memories by documenting the user's experiences in variousways. The casino may use the security cameras to take pictures of theuser. The casino may save pictures of the user from various specialmoments, e.g. just after the user has won a sizable payout. The user'sgaming device may communicate with the casino server or centralcontroller, alerting them that a payout has been won. The casino servermay then send a signal to a casino security camera overlooking the user.The camera may be instructed to capture and/or save one or more stillimages from the time period during which the player won. Securitycameras may also record images from a user at times of low morale, toserve as a points of comparison with pictures of the user's latertriumphs.

A gaming device may also record and store particular outcomes achievedby the user. The gaming device may provide the user with a printedrecord of his outcomes. The gaming device may also communicate therecord of outcomes to the central controller. The central controller maythen send the record of the outcomes to the user's terminal. Usingsoftware that graphically represents a gaming device, the user may beable to relive his gaming experience on his user terminal.

Pictures of the user's facial expressions may even be overlaid on top ofthe graphical representation of the gaming device as it achievedoutcomes causing the user's expressions. For example, a user is shownwith an elated expression on top of a picture of three bars lining up ona slot machine. Such pictures may be provided digitally to the user, inprinted form, or may be put on T-shirts or other merchandise for theuser.

When a user achieves certain outcomes, casino employees may gatheraround the user for a group picture. Perhaps they hold the user on theirshoulders directly in front of a security camera.

The casino may record sounds from the user as well as images. Forexample, microphones on the gaming device may record the user'sexclamations of sorrow or joy as his fortunes change.

Since documentation of a vacation may be so important to the user, theuser may submit preparation data describing how his vacation will berecorded. The user may describe when the casino should take or recordpictures of the user. For example, the user might request saving apicture of the user whenever the user wins a payout exceeding onehundred dollars ($100). The user might request saving the top fiveoutcomes won by the user, so that the user may later have the outcomesreenacted at his computer.

The user may wish for special merchandise to be made reflecting theuser's vacation. For example, the user may ask for a mug displaying thedollar figure of the user's best outcome above a picture of the user.

Part of the user's preparation data may also be payment instructions forthe documentation of his vacation. For example, the user may pay tendollars ($10) and be entitled to receive prints of one hundred (100)pictures of the user's choice. The user may pay twenty dollars ($20) toreceive two T-shirts with the user's picture on them. The user's paymentmay or may not be made in advance. The user may or may not commit topaying for any elements of documentation.

In some embodiments, a user's gaming device is configured to display a“photograph this” button or a “save this” button. When the user pressesthe button (as by touching an area of the touch screen), a camera in thecasino may photograph the user, or the gaming device may save thecurrent outcome for future reenactments.

It may be worthwhile for a casino to provide a user with freedocumentation of his vacation. After taking multiple pictures of a user,for example, a casino would be able to present the pictures to the userin a logical, organized, or attractive format, such as a scrapbook.However, if a user were to go to multiple different casinos during avacation, and were he to receive documentation from the multiplecasinos, the documentation from the different casinos would notnecessarily fit together conveniently. Thus, a casino can retain usersmore effectively by providing documentation, since a user would wish tostay at that casino and have his whole vacation documented in a unifiedformat.

In some embodiments, multiple casinos, restaurants, and/or othermerchants may coordinate with each other in the documentation of auser's trip. For example, two different casinos may each photograph auser, and send the photographs to a central database maintained by thecentral controller. The central controller may then assemble all of thephotographs into an album and present them to the user in a unifiedformat.

Photographs, outcomes, and other data documenting a user's trip may,according to some embodiments, be stored in a trip documentationdatabase.

20. What the User Wishes to Buy

Many visitors to casinos enjoy shopping in casinos' extensive shoppingmalls. However, the malls do not necessarily have everything a userwishes to purchase. Therefore, the user's preparation data may include alist and description of items the user wishes to purchase. The user maydesire customized items, such as T-shirts with his name on them. Whenthe user indicates what items he wants in advance, stores have theopportunity to obtain or to make what the user wants. The user may payin advance or may simply commit to a purchase. The items the userrequests may be held at particular stores, may be sent directly to theuser at his home address, or may be brought to the user while he is at agaming device or in his hotel room. In some embodiments, a store obtainsgoods requested by the user and gives them to the user at the store forfree or for a steep discount. The expectation is that the user willpurchase more items at the store. The user may be required to purchasemore items in order to get the requested product for free or at adiscount.

Items a user requests to purchase may also be offered to the user asprizes. For example, if the user wins a two hundred dollar ($200) prizeat a slot machine, the slot machine may offer to give the user the dressshe requested instead of her prize.

Clearly a tremendous amount and variety of preparation data is possible,and a user may not necessarily provide certain preparation data that itis possible to provide. For example, a user may not necessarily provideany data of use to marketers, nor even indicate whether or not he wouldlike to receive marketing offers. Thus, the controller may associatedefault preparation data with each user. In the above example, where theuser has not indicated whether or not he would like to receive marketingoffers, the default may be that the user does receive marketing offers.Default data may not be the same for every user. Rather, defaultpreparation data may depend on information about the user, or it maydepend on the business environment of the central controller, casinoservers, or marketers. For example, marketing offers may be presented toa user if a marketer is experiencing particular pressure to dispose ofinventory, but may not be presented otherwise.

B. Determining an Associated Preparation Code—1404

In some embodiments, the central controller may assign a preparationcode to each user's preparation data. The code may be any sequence ofletters, numerals, punctuation, and other symbols. Sample codes are,“123456,” “C123456,” “ABCDEF,” and “*$%#@Q %.” Codes may be any length.In some embodiments, codes are limited in length and symbol usage sothat they may be easily memorized by a human. Also, the symbols in codesmay be restricted to those easily entered into a gaming device. Forexample, a player tracking card reader on a slot machine may contain akeypad with only numerals. Therefore, codes may consist strictly ofnumerals.

In some embodiments, a unique code is assigned to each unique set ofpreparation data. Since there may be more possible sets of preparationdata than codes of a given length, certain codes may expire after a timeso that they may be reused for new sets of preparation data. That is,code “123456” may correspond to a first set of preparation data only forthree weeks, after which it may be assigned to a new set of preparationdata. A code may correspond to different sets of preparation datadepending on different circumstances. The time of day, the geographiclocation, and the type of gaming device receiving the code may alldetermine the corresponding set of preparation data. Advantageously,this may allow fewer codes to represent more unique sets of preparationdata, since each code can now represent multiple sets of preparationdata. For example, “123456” may represent a five reel (5-reel), onedollar ($1) per bet gaming device configuration in Atlantic City, butmay represent a three reel (3-reel), quarter ($0.25) per betconfiguration in Las Vegas.

When codes are assigned to sets of preparation data, the codes maysimply be assigned in sequence according to the order in which sets ofpreparation data are defined by users. For example, set of preparationdata may be assigned the code “000129,” while a set of preparation datareceived immediately afterwards may be assigned the code “000130.”

When a code is assigned to a set of preparation data, a record may becreated for the code and preparation data in a database such as thepreparation data database 1200 of FIG. 12. When a gaming device, casinoserver, or the central controller later receives a code, it may simplyexamine the record in the database to determine the correspondingpreparation data.

In an alternative embodiment, a code actually contains preparation data.For example, each digit of a code may correspond to a different featureof a gaming device configuration. The first digit may indicate the gametype, the second the font size, the third the wager size, and so on.Then, when a gaming device receives a code, it need only interpret eachsegment of the code using a predefined table in order to configureitself properly. Such a table may be stored in the gaming device, thecasino server, or the central controller.

In some embodiments, a first code is created such that it containspreparation data. However, the code may be very long, especially ifthere are many features that can be customized. Therefore, a second codeis created by compressing the first code in some fashion. Numerouscompression algorithms for a sequence of bits or numerals are known inthe art. When the gaming device later receives the second code, it mayreverse the compression algorithm to recover the first code and todeduce the preparation data from the first code. Of course, the casinoserver or central controller may also reverse the compression.

Preparation data may be associated with a particular user. Thus,information about the user may be sufficient for a gaming device toobtain preparation data. For example, a user's name may be stored in adatabase corresponding to a set of preparation data. When the user laterenters his name into a gaming device (perhaps via his tracking card),the gaming device may find the user's name in the database and therebyobtain the corresponding preparation data. A user's player tracking cardnumber may serve a similar function, and may thus serve as a preparationcode. Other user characteristics may be associated in a database withconfigurations. A user's biometric data, such as voice data, retinalscan data, or finger print data may be associated with a particularconfiguration.

A preparation code may take the form of bar code, or any othermachine-readable code. The user may then print out the bar code from hisuser terminal. When the user subsequently inserts the bar code into agaming device, the gaming device may obtain the user's preparation data.

A user may specify his own code to be associated with a particularconfiguration. Perhaps he labels a configuration, “203461-9999,” or “BigJackpot,” or “xyz.”

A preparation code may only describe particular features that a user hasselected. Other features may then take on default values. For example,if a user has only selected the number of reels, a code might read“NR5,” where “NR” stands for “number of reels,” and “5” indicates thedesired number. The code does not describe other features, and so thesemay take on default values.

C. Transmitting the Preparation Data and Code to a Casino Server (orOther Device or Computer)—1406

Once a code has been associated with a particular set of preparationdata, the code and the preparation data may be transmitted to a casinoserver, and/or a gaming device. Transmission may occur via the Internet,e-mail, phone, fax, or any other mode of communication.

In some embodiments, the code and preparation data are transmittedimmediately after they have been generated. In other embodiments, agaming device may only receive preparation data after a user has entereda code, and the gaming device has sent the code to the casino serverand/or the central controller.

In embodiments where a preparation code contains information about agaming device configuration, the controller need not necessarilytransmit both configuration data and the preparation code, since agaming device or casino server may be able to derive one from the otheraccording to predefined rules.

When a user sits down at a gaming device, he may enter his preparationcode in order to have the gaming device determine the user's preferredfeatures (such as preferences and/or gaming rules or limits). He mayenter the code in a number of ways including, but not limited to:

-   -   1. Keying in the code via a keypad or touch screen;    -   2. Speaking the code into a microphone, whereby it is        interpreted using voice recognition software;    -   3. Inserting a bar code into the gaming device and/or otherwise        scanning or reading a barcode or other indicia;    -   4. Inserting his player tracking card into the device;    -   5. Inserting into the gaming device any magnetic strip        containing the code;    -   6. Inserting into the gaming device a floppy disc, CD, DVD or        other storage medium containing the code;    -   7. Wirelessly transmitting the code to the gaming device using a        cell phone, PDA, or other communications device; and/or    -   8. Providing biometric data to an input device of the gaming        device (e.g., fingerprint, retina, and/or facial recognition        data).

If the gaming device cannot interpret the code, the gaming device maytransmit the code to the casino server and/or to the controller. Thecasino server or controller may then look up the code in a database suchas the preparation data database 1200 of FIG. 12, and may retrieve thecorresponding configuration information. The configuration may then besent back to the gaming device so that it can configure itselfaccordingly.

D. Provide Feedback To The User—1408

Generally, after the user has entered preparation data into the Web siteof the central controller, the central controller may respond to theuser. The following is a partial list of possible information containedin the central controller's response:

-   -   1. A thank you to the user for submitting preparation data        and/or request confirmation of the submitted preparation data;    -   2. Maps and/or directions to any gaming devices or other points        of interest for the user;    -   3. Vouchers or coupons for use at a casino, restaurant, or other        business. The vouchers may, in particular, be for businesses in        the vicinity of the user's intended destination;    -   4. Information about one or more individual gaming devices. For        example, the gaming device's date of manufacture, pay out        percentage to fifty-three (53) year-old males, etc. The user        may, for example, print out this information and take it to his        astrologer for a consultation;    -   5. Updates on gaming devices for the time since the user entered        preparation data. The central controller may call the user's        attention to new gaming devices if these have been performing        well lately. Such updates may be made periodically;    -   6. Configuring a gaming device according to the configuration        data associated with a preparation code received from a player        at the gaming device; and/or    -   7. Marketing offers for the user. The marketing offers may offer        the user benefits for doing business or agreeing to do business        with any merchant in the vicinity of the user's destination or        anywhere else. In some embodiments, the central controller will        only honor the user's preparation data if the user agrees to a        marketing offer. For example, the controller might say to the        user, “We will give you the pay table you requested but in        return we would like you to fly to Las Vegas using XYZ        Airlines.” The central controller might ask the user to prepay        for some product or service in order to solidify the user's        agreement. So the user might prepay for three nights stay at a        hotel after agreeing to spend his vacation at the hotel.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, an additional and/oralternate one or more steps may be performed by the one or morecomputers or devices referenced herein. Such an additional step(s) maybe performed when a user attempts to use a gaming device or machine at acasino premises. Pursuant to such a step or steps, the gaming device ormachine, and/or a computer associated therewith (a casino server, acentral controller, a third party service provide server, a user deviceor terminal), may (a) identify the user, (b) identify any applicablegambling rules, restrictions or limitations (such as those describedherein), and/or (c) execute an appropriate action (e.g., as describedherein).

In such an additional step or steps, a user may be identified upon hispresentation of a customization code or preparation code, such as aplayer tracking card number or a biometric identifier. For example, auser may insert his player tracking card into a player tracking cardreader (e.g., such as player tracking card reader 510 of FIG. 5) of agaming machine. In order to identify any applicable gambling rules,restrictions or limitations, the gaming machine and/or a computerassociated therewith may query a local or remote database based on thecustomization code or preparation code. For example, a gaming machineand/or computer associated therewith may determine if the presented codeexists in a record of a database, such as the illustrative preparationdata database 1200 of FIG. 12, to determine if corresponding rules havebeen registered (e.g., by himself or by a third party) to limit theuser's gambling activity. If rules have been registered in associationwith the user, and if any applicable conditions have been satisfied(e.g., a threshold number of wagers have been placed in a given periodof time), the gaming machine and/or computer associated therewith mayexecute an appropriate action, such as by:

-   -   1. restricting the user's ability to utilize a gaming machine;    -   2. restricting the user's ability to fund or place a wager;    -   3. restricting the user's ability to use, access or liquidate        winnings;    -   4. signaling the player, through an output device, with a        message encouraging the user to stop or limit wagering activity;    -   5. signaling a third party, through an output device, with a        message informing the third party about the user's wagering        activity;    -   6. opening a communication session between two or more devices;        and/or    -   7. executing any other action described herein.

Some embodiments may be directed to operating a gaming device and/orconducting gaming sessions in accordance with pre-defined (e.g.,third-party pre-defined) gaming rules and/or limits. Turning to FIG. 15,for example, a flow diagram illustrating a method 1500 according to someembodiments is shown. The method 1500 may, according to someembodiments, be conducted by any practicable device, system, and/orentity as described herein. In some embodiments, the method 1500 may beconducted by a casino server or gaming device.

The method 1500 may generally initiate at 1502 to receive an indicationof a gaming rule. The indication may be received from a user and/orthird-party device, for example, and/or may be determined based on aplayer's identity. The indication may comprise the rule or limit itself,and/or may comprise a pointer to a location where the rule and/or limitis stored. The method 1500 may continue at 1504 to receive andindication of a request to execute a gaming session. As the order of theprocesses and elements of methods described herein is not fixed ordefined by the order in which such processes and/or elements aredescribed and/or presented herein, the process at 1504 may, according tosome embodiments, occur before and/or substantially contemporaneouslywith the process at 1502. In some embodiments, for example, theindication of the gaming rule may be determined based upon theindication of the request to execute the gaming session and/orinformation associated therewith (e.g., the player's identity).According to some embodiments, the indication of the request may bereceived by and/or via a gaming device and/or may be received by and/orvia a casino (and/or other) server. A player may insert a playertracking card into a gaming device, for example, which may constitute areceiving of an indication of a request to execute a gaming session.Alternatively, a player's selection and/or depression of a “spin” and/orother executable button and/or device (e.g., a softkey) may provide suchan indication.

At 1506, it may be determined whether the gaming session is compliantwith the gaming rule. Any gaming rule determined and/or received at1502, for example, may be evaluated and/or compared to sessionparameters to determine if the requested session is allowable. If thegaming session is compliant with and/or satisfies the gaming rule,and/or if no gaming rule is applicable, then the method 1500 may proceedto 1508 to execute the session (e.g., as requested).

In the case that the gaming session is determined not to be compliantwith the gaming rule, a notification of non-compliance may be providedat 1510. The player attempting to execute the session may be notifiedthat the player is not allowed to execute the session, for example,and/or a third party such as a spouse, parent, employer, and/orgovernment agency may be notified that the player has attempted toexecute a prohibited session (e.g., a gaming session defined by aparameter that has been restricted with respect to the player). In someembodiments, the notification may also or alternatively compriseinstructions, such as instructions directing the player as to what typesof gaming are allowed, and/or directing the player how the currentsession may be adjusted and/or changed to fall within the acceptablecriteria established by the gaming rule.

In some embodiments, as alluded to with respect to the method 1500, thegaming rule (and/or limits defined thereby) may be determined, such asbased on a particular player and/or a particular gaming session.Referring to FIG. 16, for example, a flow diagram illustrating a method1600 according to some embodiments is shown. The method 1600 maygenerally begin at 1602 to receive an indication of a request to executea gaming session. In some embodiments, this may be similar to theindication of the request received in the method 1500 at 1504.

According to some embodiments, the method 1600 may generally continue todetermine a gaming rule, at 1604. While this may be similar to and/orcomprise the receiving of the gaming rule at 1502 in the method 1500, itmay also or alternatively comprise various other methodologies fordetermining the gaming rule. A biometric identifier may be receivedand/or identified as part of the receiving of the request at 1602, forexample. In some embodiments, a facial scan of a player at an arcadegame and/or slot machine may be conducted, for example, to determine anidentity of the player. Such facial scanning technology and associatedmethods are described in WO 03/060846 filed in the name of CIAS, Inc. onDec. 20, 2002, and published on Jul. 24, 2003, entitled “COMBINATIONCASINO TABLE GAME AND IMAGING SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY RECOGNIZING THEFACES OF PLAYERS—AS WELL AS TERRORISTS AND OTHER UNDESIRABLES—AND FORRECOGNIZING WAGERED GAMING CHIPS”, the facial recognition descriptionsand concepts of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Basedon the player's identity, the gaming device may access and/or query adatabase to lookup any gaming rules and/or limits that may be associatedwith the player. The gaming limits and/or rules may also oralternatively be determined and/or defined dynamically, such asrandomly, and/or based on various recorded and/or known playercharacteristics. Based on an amount that the player has gambled and/orspent in the past week, for example, one or more gaming limits may beautomatically defined and/or imposed. In some embodiments, such limitsmay be determined based on criteria established in an attempt to track,identify, and/or pre-empt problem gambling behaviors.

The method 1600 may generally continue at 1606 to determine if thesession is compliant with any applicable rules. This may be conducted ina manner similar to that of the compliance determination at 1506 in themethod 1500. For example, any gaming limits, such as wager amounts,established by an applicable gaming rules may be compared to one or moreparameters associated with the requested gaming session, such as amountwagered, to determined compliance. In the case that the requested amountwagered is larger than the allowed wager limit, for example, the sessionmay be determined to be non-compliant. While compliance is generallydescribed herein as being associated with a gaming session, it shouldalso be understood that the player may be deemed complaint and/ornon-compliant based on the requests for gaming sessions and/or otheractions conducted by the player. A player requesting a non-compliantgaming session may be, for example, a non-compliant player.

In the case that the session is determined to be compliant, the sessionmay be executed at 1608. In some embodiments, the session may only berequired to be substantially compliant. In the case that a wager amountand/or other parameter violates an applicable rule by a marginal and/ornegligible amount, for example, the session may nonetheless bedetermined to be compliant. For example, if a maximum loss limit is tendollars ($10) and the requested session may allow the player to lose anamount that would cause the player to incur a loss of ten dollars andfive cents ($10.05), the five cent ($0.05) excess may be determined tobe negligible and/or inconsequential, and the session may be executed(e.g., at 1608). In some embodiments, such “margins” may be defined(e.g., by the player, by a third party, and/or by the gaming device)and/or may be based on the underlying limits (e.g., a certain smallpercentage deviation may be allowed for each and/or certain limits).

In the case that the session is determined to by non-compliant, themethod 1600 may continue to provide a non-compliance notification at1610. This may be similar to the notification provided at 1510 of themethod 1500. The gaming session may also or alternatively be barred,cancelled, and/or otherwise prevented from being executed in violationof any applicable rules. According to some embodiments, the gamingsession and/or gaming device may be reconfigured to proactively and/orreactively ensure gaming rule compliance.

Turning to FIG. 17, for example, a flow diagram illustrating a method1700 according to some embodiments is shown. The method 1700 maygenerally begin at 1702 to receive an indication of a request to executea gaming session (such as at 1602 of the method 1600). In someembodiments, the method 1700 may continue at 1704 to determine a gamingrule (such as at 1604 of the method 1600). At 1706, it may be determinedwhether the requested gaming session is compliant with the determinedrule (such as at 1606 of the method 1600). In the case that complianceis determined, the method 1700 may simply continue to execute thesession at 1708 (such as at 1608 of the method 1600).

In some embodiments, such as in the case that the session is determinedto be noncompliant (e.g., at 1706), the method 1700 may continue at 1712to adjust the session to make it compliant. Any or all parameters of thesession that are determined to violate gaming limits established by anyapplicable gaming rules, for example, may be adjusted in accordance withsuch limitations. In the case that the player has requested the sessionto be executed at a current time of 4:58 PM, and the player's parentshave set a gaming rule that defines a gaming limit for gaming times ofbetween 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM, for example, the player may be forced towait the extra two (2) minutes to make the session compliant (e.g., suchthat the session is executed during the acceptable limited time window).According to some embodiments, the player's waiting may be supplementedwith entertainment and/or advertising materials to help pass the timeand/or to prevent the player from simply leaving. The wait period mayalso or alternatively be concealed from the player, such that, forexample, the player does not realize an “intentional” wait has beeninitiated. During such a concealed wait, the gaming device may allow theplayer to play one or more non-wager games (e.g., where the limit is onwagering games and/or wagering), ask the player one or more triviaand/or demographic questions, play one or more entertaining media files,and/or otherwise occupy the player to delay play until the acceptableperiod.

Other parameters of game play may be similarly adjusted to force and/orcause compliance. In some embodiments, such adjustments may be madeautomatically (e.g., without player consent and/or knowledge) or may bepresented to the player as options for allowing the requested play.Offering the player a choice may be particularly advantageous in thecase that a parameter may be changed in a plurality of ways to achievecompliance, such that the player may be allowed to choose one or more ofthese ways to implement.

In any case, once the session has been adjusted for compliance, themethod 1700 may continue to 1708 to execute the adjusted session. Insuch a manner, for example, even non-compliant sessions may be executedand/or non-compliant players (e.g., problem gamblers) may be forcedand/or directed to execute gaming sessions in compliance withpre-established gaming rules. Particularly in the case that such rulesare established, defined, and/or managed by third-parties, the player'sgaming habits may become influenced and/or shaped by such rules, whichmay in turn facilitate the reduction and/or prevention of problem gamingbehaviors.

VII. Examples

The following specific examples are provided to illustrate particularembodiments described herein, particularly from the perspective ofpotential users of the system 100A, 100B of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B,including players and potential controller operators such as casinos.

A. Example A

Sarah wanted to keep her brother informed during her upcoming trip toLas Vegas. She therefore logged onto the Web siteVegasvacationplanner.com and provided her player tracking card number.She then provided instructions that all outcomes she achieved would beemailed to her brother once an hour. She provided her brother's emailaddress.

The day Sarah arrived in Las Vegas, she sat down at a slot machine. Sheinserted her player tracking card. The slot machine communicated theplayer tracking card number to the central controller. The centralcontroller looked up the number in a database, and found theinstructions Sarah had provided, along with her brother's email address.The central controller then instructed the slot machine to transmit itsoutcomes to the central controller as they were generated. As Sarah madeher handle pulls, the slot machine transmitted the outcomes to thecentral controller. The central controller stored the outcomes. Everyhour, the central controller sent the newly stored outcomes in an emailto Sarah's brother.

B. Example B

Sam was planning a week-long trip to Las Vegas. Sam did not get muchtime away from his home in Florida due to work and family obligations.So this would be his big vacation for the year. He wanted it to bememorable and he wanted it to go well.

Sam began his planning by logging onto the Web site, the Web siteidentified by the URL http://www.Vegasvacationplanner.com. He saw thatthere were many of aspects of his vacation for which he could plan. Heset up an account with the Web site by typing in his name, age, emailaddress, and home address.

First Sam decided to find a slot machine game he was comfortable with.He selected from a list of possible slot games, choosing a game calledCrazy Jewels. A new window appeared on his monitor containing agraphical rendition of a mechanical three-reel slot game. Sam clicked ona “spin” icon and caused the graphical slot machine to spin and displayan outcome. Sam made a few more spins before deciding Crazy Jewels wasboring, and trying a new game. Sam tried a few different games beforefinding one he enjoyed playing. The game was called Camel Quarters. Heenjoyed it in part because he seemed to be winning most of the time. Samput a check mark next to Camel Quarters on the Web site.

One of Sam's fears was quickly losing too much money on his vacation. Heknew he could try to limit his gambling budget, but if he lost it allquickly, he would be bored for the rest of the vacation. Therefore, Sambrowsed through some marketing offers on the Web site. Many merchantsoffered to offset gambling losses, or to give Sam money outright fordoing business with them. Sam agreed to an offer where he would testdrive a sport utility vehicle in return for thirty dollars ($30), whichSam would get only if he lost at least thirty dollars ($30) gambling atthe casino. Sam agreed to several other offers too.

In case the marketing offers Sam accepted did not turn out to be enoughto cover potential losses, Sam decided he would be open to receivingmore marketing offers while playing the slots. He entered someinformation about himself, including the fact that he owned a house, hadtwo small children, had a three-year old car, and enjoyed golf. Amarketing button would then appear on the touch screen of any slotmachine Sam played. Anytime Sam wished to receive more money, he couldpress the button and receive another marketing offer. Accepting theoffer would give Sam more money to gamble with.

On the Web site, Sam had the opportunity to choose a prize he would liketo play for at a slot machine. Sam had always wanted a Porsche™, so hechose his favorite model to play for. If Sam then won the maximumjackpot on any machine with a jackpot over thirty thousand dollars($30,000), he would get the Porsche™ instead of the money.

Sam noticed that the Web site allowed him to scan in pictures to besubsequently displayed on his slot machine. Sam thought it would be neatto have his dog Woofie appear on the reels of the slot machine. Samcould even arrange it so that lining up three Woofie's would give him alarge payout. Sam scanned in a picture of Woofie using his home scannerand sent the picture as an attachment in an e-mail topics@Vegasvacationplanner.com. The picture was then stored in a databasefor later access by Sam at a slot machine.

Sam saw that he could actually have pictures taken of him while playingthe slots, and that the pictures could be made into an album for him andsent to him for only twenty dollars ($20). Since this was a big vacationfor Sam, he very much wanted the vacation documented. Therefore, Samtyped in his credit card number and agreed to pay the twenty dollars($20). He asked that pictures be taken of him whenever he won more thana one hundred dollars ($100) payout. He also asked that his picture beoverlaid on top of an image of the slot reels for any pay out over fivehundred dollars ($500).

When Sam had finished with his selections at the Web site, he was askedto enter his mother's maiden name, and the name of the street on whichhe grew up. The answers would later be used in confirming Sam's identityat a slot machine. Sam did as he was asked.

The Web site then gave Sam two links to maps. Sam clicked on one linkand a map of Las Vegas appeared on his screen. The New Age Casino washighlighted on the map. The other link gave Sam a map of the casinofloor of the New Age Casino. Two rows of slot machines were highlighted.These were the machines that played Camel Quarters. Sam printed out thetwo maps so he could find his way to the Camel Quarter machines.

When Sam got to Vegas, he took a cab to the New Age Casino. Using hismap of the casino floor, he easily found the Camel Quarter slots. He satdown at one. The touch screen displayed a question, asking whether Samhad made any advance customizations. Sam touched a “yes” button and wasasked for his name. Sam entered his name using touch screen keys. He wasthen asked for his mother's maiden name and for the name of the streeton which he grew up. He answered these questions successfully, and wasthen welcomed. To his delight, the picture of his dog Woofie appeared onthe touch screen. Woofie subsequently appeared on the reels of the CamelQuarters game.

An hour into play, Sam had lost thirty dollars ($30). A message appearedon his touch screen. “Bob's SUV Dealer is pleased to take care of yourloss. Here is another $30.” The credit meter on Sam's machine thenincremented by thirty dollars ($30). Unfortunately, in the next fewhours, Sam exhausted all the money he had on reserve from marketers. Sohe pressed a button on his touch screen marked “Get Your Offer toIncrease Your Bankroll!” Sam was then offered twenty-five dollars ($25)for trying a free round of golf at the Golden Days Country Club in hishometown. Sam agreed, signed an area on the touch screen, and watched ashis credit meter incremented by twenty-five dollars ($25).

On his second day, Sam lined up three Woofie's and won two hundred andfifty dollars ($250). He was told to look up at the ceiling, where asecurity camera captured his smile. His face was overlaid atop an imageof three Woofie's, and this picture was the highlight of the album helater received.

C. Example C

Player A has a self-recognized tendency to gamble more than he canafford at the local casino, and so he used his personal computer to logonto the casino's Web site to register various self-imposed limitations(e.g., defining and/or selecting one or more gaming rules or limits).Once at the Web site, Player A entered his player tracking card numberand then populated various checkboxes corresponding to the games he didnot want to be allowed to play: video poker and video blackjack. PlayerA also entered a budget of one hundred dollars ($100) per month. SincePlayer A does not like to play without earning comp points, he routinelypresents his player tracking card at every wagering opportunity, andsuch presentation of his player tracking card would thereby allow thecasino's computer system to ensure that he does not (a) play video pokeror video blackjack or (b) gamble more than one hundred dollars ($100)per month. When Player A subsequently presented his player tracking cardat a video poker machine, the video poker machine output a message onits screen reading “Sorry, Player A, but you are not permitted to playvideo poker at this time.”

D. Example D

Mr. and Mrs. Smith like to visit the local casino together, butsometimes Mr. Smith likes to visit the casino while Mrs. Smith is atwork. Because they agreed that Mr. Smith may bet a bit more aggressivelyon his own, they registered Mr. Smith's player tracking card with thecasino's website and registered a rule which would allow Mrs. Smith toget a phone call to her cellular phone (from the casino's automatedoutbound IVR unit) in the event that Mr. Smith gambled more than fiftydollars ($50) in any one (1) hour on a weekday. After receiving a phonecall that Mr. Smith gambled seventy-five dollars ($75) in twenty (20)minutes on a Wednesday, Mrs. Smith called Mr. Smith's cell phone todiscuss the matter.

VII. Additional and/or Alternate Embodiments

The following are example alternative variations which illustrateadditional and/or alternate embodiments. It should be understood thatthe particular variations described in this section can be combined withthe different embodiments, or portions thereof, described above in anymanner that is or becomes practicable. These examples do not constitutea definition or itemization of all possible embodiments. Further,although the following examples are briefly described for clarity, thoseskilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, ifnecessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodatethese and other embodiments and applications.

The submission of preparation data has been described in the context ofa gambling experience. However, a user could also submit preparationdata to customize a video game experience. For example, prior tovisiting a video arcade, a user could select a game, a sound level, asensitivity level of characters' motion in relation to the movement ofcontrols, and so on. A user could submit preparation data to customizehis experience at an ATM machine. Then, after entering his password, theuser might immediately receive a designated amount of cash. Havingsubmitted preparation data, the user need not select a language, selectdeposit or withdrawal, select checking or savings, key in a number, etc.Preparation data may also apply to a point of sale terminal. When ashopper identifies himself using a frequent shopper card, or a creditcard, the POS terminal may respond to the shopper's stored preparationdata. The POS terminal may then format the shopper's receipt in acertain way, print certain coupons on the back of the shopper's receipt,provide discounts, or present certain marketing offers to the shopper.In some embodiments, preparation data includes a description of asubscription to a product or service. The user may, for example,indicate he wishes to buy milk once a week for twelve (12) weeks at adiscount of ten cents ($0.10) per carton. Then, when the user pays formilk at a point of sale terminal, the user is given the ten cent ($0.10)discount.

Many alternate systems are possible. For example, the central controllermay communicate directly with gaming devices, without the intermediationof slot servers. The central controller may additionally function as aslot server. Marketer devices may not be present. For example, in someembodiments, the central controller only markets items for sale at thecasino in which the controller is situated.

The central controller may inform the user that a benefit, such as freecredits, is waiting for him at a particular gaming device. The user needthen only insert his player tracking card, or provide some otheridentifier, in order to claim the benefit. Advantageously, the user isencouraged to appear at a location where he is very likely to gamble.Therefore a casino may be able to afford providing the free benefit asan inducement to gamble.

A user may arrange to have customized coin racks with his name on themmade available to him at the casino. The user may also request othercustomized products, such as T-shirts or mugs, containing names,phrases, or pictures of his choice.

The central controller may be in communication with multiple casinoservers. Knowing a user's intentions to visit Las Vegas, several casinosmay wish to attract the user to their hotels. Therefore, casinos maycompete for the user's business. For example, a first casino may offerthe user an enticing package involving discounted room rates, free showtickets, free meals, gambling credits, etc. A second casino may offerits own enticing package. The user or the central controller may thendecide which package is best.

Documentation of a user's gambling experience may be sufficientlyentertaining as to warrant broadcast on television. On the Web site ofthe central controller, the user may consent to the use of his voiceand/or image for public broadcast. The user may later receive a rewardif excerpts from his trip are ever aired.

A user may submit requests for particular meals. The central controllermay inform a restaurant so that the chef knows how to prepare the user'smeal. The restaurant may also have the opportunity to obtain specialingredients in advance of the user's coming, or to insure that certainingredients are avoided for users with food allergies.

Preparation data may include a desired arrangement or lay out for ahotel room. The user may want windows facing a certain direction, silklinen, certain types of food and drink in the room's mini-bar, a certaintype of shampoo, and so on.

Preparation data may include what movies or television shows a personwishes to watch at a slot machine. For example, the user may wish tocatch up on all of the missed episodes from the last season of hisfavorite sit-com. The central controller or casino may then obtain theseshows and broadcast them on the user's slot machine.

Preparation data may include special medical needs of the user. The usermay need a wheel chair, walker, oxygen supply, or an assistant whilestaying at the casino. The user may request that medication be madeavailable for the user, should the user need it. For example, if theuser is a diabetic, the user may request that the casino have extrainsulin on hand just in case the user needs it. The user may requestthat he be monitored especially closely by the casino security cameras,so that if he requires medical assistance, it will be made quicklyavailable.

Preparation data may be associated with a credit card account. When auser makes a purchase using a credit card, the user may receive certainbenefits described in the user's preparation data. For example, the usermay ask to receive two cents ($0.02) towards the purchase of a new boatfor every dollar purchased using the credit card. The user's moneyaccumulated towards the new boat may be kept in a special account by thecredit card company, and released to the user when he has enough to buythe boat. As another example, the user may receive a special discount ona purchase if a credit card order totals over fifty dollars ($50).

On the Web site of the central controller, the user may wish to find theworst performing slot machines at a casino or other location, as well asthe best performing. Many users believe that poorly performing machinesare due for an upswing in performance.

The user may configure his gaming device to allow him to order drinks orother services or products. He may then simply press a “bring drink”button on his touch screen to get a waitress to bring him a beer, forexample.

A user may arrange for speed dial buttons in his hotel room. Forexample, on the Web site of the central controller, the user arrangesfor a first button to call a pizza restaurant, for a second button tocall work, for a third button to call home, and so on.

A user may arrange for direct-dial use of his long distance provider.This might save the user from having to dial an “800 number”, enter apin code, and enter a credit card number in order to user his longdistance provider.

A user may remotely watch games being played. Watching others play gamesmay allow the user to feel more comfortable playing the games himself. Auser might, for example, see a video feed from the security camerasabove a blackjack table. He could then watch other people playingblackjack. For reasons of privacy, the user might view only the cardsand the dealer, not the faces of the other players at the table.

A user might arrange to borrow various items, including rental cars,digital cameras, cell phones, suits, and so on.

A user might reduce or eliminate charges on his hotel bill prior toembarking on a vacation. To do so, a user might accept marketing offers.For example, the user may make a purchase at an on-line retaileraffiliated with the hotel. The retailer might then cover the cost of theuser's first night stay at the hotel. The user might also enter intoforward commitments. For example, the user may commit to staying at thehotel in the future, and thereby get billed for a lower cost room thanthat in which he is to stay.

A user might find out about the machines on which his friends haveplayed. The player may discover the identity of the machines, or eventhe results his friends achieved on the machines. The user might thenplay on gaming devices that have done well for his friends, or may eventry to outdo friends on certain machines. The user's friends may havealready been registered as part of the user's gambling circle. Thus, theuser does not invade their privacy by looking up their results.

A user may arrange for his constantly updating itinerary to be sent tofriends or coworkers. Then, if the user changes plans during a vacation,his coworkers would still know how to reach him.

The present invention may include the additional step of verifying thatthe player is legally permitted to gamble. For example, if the player isunable to prove he is over the age of twenty-one, he may not bepermitted to access the customization Web site. Thus, the centralcontroller may, for example, consult a database of publicly availablebirth records. Alternatively the player may be required to provide ascan or a photograph of an ID, such as a driver's license or passportbelonging to the player. Further, if the player possesses a certainitem, such as a credit card, that, for example, is known to only bedistributed on a restrictive basis, then the central controller mayinfer the player's eligibility from the player's possession of the item.

In some embodiments, the remote controller may be equipped to print ageneric or customized document describing the player's customizedconfiguration and/or the customization code to enter into the gamingdevice. The document may include cashless gaming receipts or couponswith bar codes, for example, to provide the player with an incentive tobring the document with him to the casino. The consumer may insert thedocument, or a copy of it, into the gaming device to activate thecustomization of the gaming device and/or to redeem the coupons.

In some embodiments, a player device, such as a wireless PDA, may beused to activate the customization of the gaming device and it may alertthe gaming device to the player's proximity using, for example, awireless protocol (such as Bluetooth® as described athttp://www.bluetooth.com/dev/specifications.asp). Once identified, aconsumer's customized configuration information may be automaticallytransferred to the gaming device. Alternatively, the device may bepreprogrammed to be able to transfer an ID (e.g., player trackinginformation), a customization code, and/or an entire configuration to agaming device, kiosk, or a slot server at the casino location. Forexample, a player may load a slot machine customization program onto hiscombination cell phone/PDA (such as the Kyorcera® SmartPhone® Model No.6035). After having created a configuration for a slot machine, theplayer may walk around a casino “beaming” (via infrared transmissions)his configuration at slot machines. Gaming devices compatible with thesystem of the present invention may respond by lighting up and/or byplaying audio welcoming the player by name and inviting the player toplay “his” personally customized game. As indicated above, using adevice that supports wireless protocols such as Bluetooth® wouldeliminate the need to actively beam a player's configuration. By merelyapproaching an enabled gaming device, the player's device could triggerthe gaming device to configure itself to the player's customizedconfiguration. The cell phone/PDA may track and record the player'sperformance and winnings information for a given configuration and allowhim to adjust the configuration or entirely new configurations.

In some embodiments, the player may log onto the casino server directly,bypassing the central controller. Alternatively, the player could logonto the gaming device directly, bypassing the casino server.

Although the systems have been described as one or more gaming devicesnetworked to a casino server, embodiments apply to other games andgaming environments. For example, some embodiments may be applied totable games, such as table poker and blackjack. In such embodiments,players may insert their player tracking cards into card readerscorresponding to seats around, for example, a poker table. The casinoserver could access player preferences data and casino preferences datafor the players, and transmit that data to a data terminal located atthe dealer. The dealer could then modify the game or award payoutsaccording to the preferences.

Some embodiments may also apply to other environments or systemsinvolving one or more data terminals networked to a central server toconfigure the terminals to identifiable users or operators. For example,the invention could be readily adapted to apply to networked video gamesystems, systems with point-of-sale terminals, and ATM. This eliminatesthe need for users or operators to manually enter configurationinformation during each and every session to configure the terminals.

In some embodiments, the preparation data received by the centralcontroller may be forwarded to one or more slot machine manufacturers tobe incorporated into newly manufactured gaming devices. For example, ifthe vast majority of players prefer larger font types, new machinesmight be designed with larger font types as a default.

The central controller's Web site may serve as a testing ground for newgames. Device manufacturers, or casinos may present games orconfigurations that they are considering introducing, but for which theydesire player feedback. Players may test the configurations, and ratethem. Players may be paid or may receive other special privileges fordoing so.

Once a player has selected a configuration, the central controller mayprovide guidance to the player as to how to find gaming devices capableof supporting the configuration. The central controller may illuminate apath through a casino location and/or display a map showing visuallywhere the player might go to find the gaming devices. The map might belarge scale, showing, for example, the entire world, the U.S., or aparticular state. The map might show smaller regions, such as the cityof Las Vegas, or even the floor plan of a particular casino location.The map might contain other information such as how many of the desiredgaming devices are in each region, how many are currently available, howmany are likely to be available, how well they have paid out, and so on.

In alternative embodiments, information regarding a player's gamingexperience at the customized gaming device may be transmitted up to thecasino server, or the central server and the player may be given a codethat he can use to later access the information from his user terminal.For example, if a video recording of a player winning a jackpot iscaptured by a camera and recorder in or near the gaming device, thegaming device can provide the player with a code that allows him toaccess the casino server to view the video at home via his userterminal. Other types of information that may be transmitted includegambling performance statistics, records of outcomes generated by thegaming device during the player's use of it, account information,customized configuration performance data, records of player decisionsmade during play (e.g., in video poker devices), analysis of playergambling performance, comparative data from other players, and the like.In some embodiments where targeted marketing information is presented toa player at the gaming device, there may be feedback or survey responsesfrom the player that may be stored on or communicated back to the gamingdevice, casino server, central controller, and/or the third-partyservice provider server. This type of information may also be madeaccessible via a code provided to the player, the casino, and/or athird-party.

The following subsections detail additional and alternative embodimentsof methods.

A. Receive Configuration Data From A User Terminal

A player logs on to the central controller 102 with the user terminal106 and communicates his configuration data. The user terminal 106 mayinclude a personal computer, personal digital assistant, a telephone, akiosk, an ATM, a slot machine, a vending machine, etc. The centralcontroller 102, may include a Web site accessible via the user terminal106, wherein the user may select a number of customization options for agaming device 102. By customizing a gaming device 120, a user has theopportunity to select a game he likes. He also has the opportunity topre-configure a gaming device to operate in a manner that is convenientand pleasing to his senses. For example, the user may pre-configure thegaming device 120 to print text in his native language. The user may setthe decibel levels of a gaming device's sound effects so that they areneither too loud nor too soft. Some other possible customizationsinclude configurable features such as: type of game played (deuces-wild,jacks or better, video reel, etc.), speed at which the reels spin,number of coins played as a default (game denomination), game rules,game variations, music level of the game, sounds types generated by thegame, game colors, game lighting, amount of help offered by the game,frequency with which bonus levels are reached, duration of bonus levels,whether or not the top jackpot is paid as a lump sum or installment,whether or not team members receive a bonus when the player hits apayout, format of the complimentary benefits received (e.g., cash,merchandise, frequent flyer miles, etc.), payout structure (e.g., six(6) coins for a flush and nine (9) coins for a full house, rather thanfive (5) coins for a flush and ten (10) coins for a full house), extrapayout options (e.g., small payment for four card straight flushes),language or choice of currency, starting point of game (e.g., alwaysstart with two pair or three card royal), automatic player decisions(e.g., draw one card to a flush unless there is a pair of jacks orbetter, in which case the jacks are held). In addition to the featuresthat are chosen by the players, the casino may also set numerousparameters for the player such as: hold percentage of the machine, rateat which complimentaries accumulate (e.g., two percent (2%) of coin-inrather than one percent (1%)), game eligibility (e.g., games which lockout play from anyone but high-rollers), and complimentary award rules(e.g., one player gets a bottle of wine sent to his room if he everloses more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in one (1) hour, whileanother player gets a free spin every time he misses a one card draw toa royal flush on any deuces wild machine).

There are many possible ways in which a player might selectcustomizations. A Web site on the central controller 102 may displaymultiple menus, each menu providing choices of embodiments for aparticular feature as depicted in FIG. 4. For example, a language menumay have the choices of English, Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese. A fontsize menu may have the choices of large, medium, or small. Menus mayalso have an “other” choice, allowing a user to select from less commonchoices (e.g., Swahili) or to key in their own choices, such as aparticular point size for font.

In some embodiments, rather than making choices on Web site residing onthe central controller 102, a player may download to the user terminal106 (or a player device 512) software allowing for customization. Thesoftware may guide the player through a series of feature menus andstore and/or upload the player's selections.

In some embodiments, the player may select features over the phone by,for example, listening to a pre-recorded menu of feature choices andthen pressing a number on the phone's keypad corresponding to thedesired choice. For example, the player may press “5” to select afive-reel slot game when asked to select a preferred number of reels.The player may press “0” to select a million-dollar jackpot when askedto select a preferred jackpot size. The player may also select featuresnot on any prerecorded menu by keying in a relevant sequence of numbers.For example, the player may key in “175000” to select a maximum jackpotof one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000), even whenthere is no pre-recorded choice for a one hundred and seventy-fivethousand dollars ($175,000) jackpot.

In some embodiments the player may choose from a number of previouslycustomized configurations. For example, one configuration might describea quarter denomination, five-reel video slot machine, with standardsymbols, three pay lines, and a four-coin (4-coin) maximum wager. Theplayer may choose this configuration in its totality without having toindividually choose the coin denomination, the number of reels, etc. Infact, anytime a player customizes a gaming device 120 configuration, theconfiguration may be listed on the central controller's Web site foranother player to select. Of course, once a player selects aconfiguration, he may be free to change individual features.

Configurations listed on a central controller's Web site, or anywhereelse, may have associated performance indicators. For example, a playermay report that using “configuration #329”, he won two thousand dollars($2,000). Seeing the high performance of “configuration #329”, anotherplayer may choose to select it for himself. Performance may be indicatedusing dollar figures, varying numbers of stars, colors, votes, etc. Forexample, five (5) stars, gold, and ten thousand (10,000) votes may allbe indications that a particular configuration has performed well.Performance may be self-reported by players, or may be reportedautomatically by a gaming device 120 once a player has finished agambling session using a particular configuration. Players may alsoself-report with gaming devices 106 providing occasional verification ofthe accuracy of players' reports. Individual players may gainreputations as experts at configuring gaming devices 106. Their adviceand their configurations may be sought after. Players therefore may havetheir own ratings indicated by dollar figures, stars, colors, votes,etc.

Use of certain configurations may intentionally be restricted. This maybe done to limit the number of players attempting to play on gamingdevices 106 that are of a limited quantity within the casino.Additionally, use of certain configurations may be intentionallyrestricted because only a certain number of gaming devices 106 at agiven casino location may be capable of supporting those configurations.For example, a mechanical slot machine will be unable to support videofeatures. If too many players were to select a particular configuration,or even a particular feature, some might have difficulty locating anavailable machine to support their configuration. Configurations may bemade more widely available by allowing players to select times, dates,and geographic regions for their gambling activities. Then, playersgambling at different times or in different places need not compete forthe same machines to support like configurations.

Another reason that the use of configurations may be intentionallyrestricted is that being the only one, or one of only a few players to“own” a particular configuration may be psychologically pleasing to aplayer. Therefore, other players may be restricted from viewing or usinghis configuration. It is possible that a first player would pay anotherplayer for access to his configuration. A player might also pay thecentral controller for access to a configuration, or for informationabout high performing configurations. Particular casinos, or particulardevice manufacturers may enjoy exclusive rights to certainconfigurations, even when other casinos or manufactures would betechnically capable of supporting the configurations. A player whodesired to use a certain configuration may then have a reason to play atone casino over another.

While selecting various features or configurations in some embodiments,a player may have the opportunity to test the configurations using theuser terminal 106. For example, when the player selects a symbol-size,he may view symbols on his user terminal 106 at the size they wouldactually appear on a gaming device. When the player selects areel-speed, he may view graphical reels spinning at the same speed theywould on an actual gaming device.

In some embodiments, the user terminal 106 may display a comprehensiveor complete graphical representation of a gaming device 120 to aid inthe selection of feature values. As outcome generation is simulated, theplayer may change various features using graphical interface controls,i.e. by clicking, dragging, or otherwise selecting certain areas of thegraphical representation of the gaming device. For example, suppose thereels are spinning on the user terminal's display screen. The player maytake his mouse and drag it downwards along the surface of a spinningreel, much as a person might drag his hand along the wheel of a bicycleto make it spin. The effect would be to increase the speed of the reel'sspinning. The player may change the symbol size by clicking on a cornerof a lemon symbol, for example, and dragging the corner away from thecenter of the symbol, causing the entire symbol to enlarge. A playermight create an extra reel by clicking on one reel and dragging itright, creating another reel. Alternatively, the player might click on areel and use a copy and paste function, much like those found in manyword processing programs. Of course, there are many other ways for aplayer to interact with a graphical representation of a gaming device inorder to customize feature values.

A graphical representation of a gaming device 120 also allows a playerto engage in mock gambling sessions using his selected configuration. Ifone configuration does not win for the player in a mock session, theplayer may choose another configuration. He may keep choosing differentconfigurations until he has found one he considers lucky.

In some embodiments, a player at a gaming device 120 may be anattractive marketing target for a number of reasons. First, the playeris typically a captive audience, with eyes fixated on the game at hand.Secondly, a marketer may have advanced knowledge about the player from aplayer's player tracking card. This allows a marketer to better targetadvertisements and offers to a player. Third, the gaming device givesthe marketer an opportunity to provide immediate benefits to a player inexchange for his attention or his business. These benefits might takethe form of cash, gambling tokens, extra bonus symbols, etc. Fourth, theplayer may be highly motivated to accept from the marketers the offeredbenefits and their associated conditions. The player may, for example,have suffered a large gambling loss and wish to recover the loss byaccepting a marketing offer. Fifth, a player can make a payment at agaming device 120.

Since gaming devices are an ideal place for marketers to make pitches toplayers, players may provide advanced guidance to potential marketers.The player may answer questions about his age, marital status, financialstatus, number of children, home ownership, car ownership, medicalconditions, and so on. He may indicate the types of products in which heis interested. For example, he may mention that he is looking to havehis roof re-shingled, or that he is looking for a new life insurancepolicy. Player supplied information is a way for a player to customizethe ads and the offers he will receive, much as he also customizes theoperation of the gaming device. Once the player has received variouspromotions and had a chance to respond or ignore them, the centralcontroller 102 might update a user profile based on his responses.Analysis of the player responses may allow for better targeting ofpromotions in the future towards that player.

B. Determine an Associated Preparation Code

The central controller 102 may generally assign a preparation code toeach gaming device configuration. The code may be in the form of anysequence of letters, numerals, punctuation, and other symbols. Examplesof codes according to the present invention include, “123456,”“C123456,” “ABCDEF,” and “*$%#@Q %.” Codes may be of any length. In someembodiments, codes may be limited in length and symbol usage so thatthey may be easily memorized by a player. For example, the player'stelephone or social security number may be used. Also, the symbols incodes may be restricted to those easily entered into a gaming device120. For example, a player tracking card reader on a slot machine maycontain a keypad with only numerals. Therefore, codes for that machinemay be limited to numerals.

In some embodiments, a unique code may be assigned to each uniqueconfiguration. Since there may be more possible unique configurationsthan codes of a given length, certain codes may expire after a time sothat they may be reused for new configurations. That is, code “123456”may correspond to a first configuration only for three weeks, afterwhich it may be assigned to a new configuration. A code may correspondto different configurations depending on different circumstances. Forexample, the time of day, the geographic location, and the type ofgaming device receiving the code may all determine the correspondinggaming device configuration. Advantageously, this may allow fewer codesto represent more unique gaming device configurations, since each codecan now represent several device configurations. For example, “123456”may represent a five reel (5-reel), one dollar ($1) per betconfiguration in Atlantic City, but may represent a three reel (3-reel),quarter ($0.25) per bet configuration in Las Vegas.

When codes are assigned to configurations, the codes may simply beassigned in sequence according to the order in which configurations aredefined by players. For example, a first configuration may be assignedthe code “000129,” while a configuration received immediately afterwardsmay be assigned the code “000130.”

When a code is assigned to a configuration, a record may be created forthe code and the configuration in a database such as the preparationdatabase 214. When a gaming device 120, casino server 112, or thecentral controller 102 later receives a code, it may simply examine therecord in the database to determine the corresponding configuration.

In alternative embodiments, a code may actually contains configurationinformation. For example, each digit of a code may correspond to adifferent feature of a configuration. The first digit may indicate thegame type, the second the font size, the third the wager size, and soon. Then, when a gaming device 120 receives a code, it need onlyinterpret each segment of the code using a predefined table in order toconfigure itself properly. Such a table may be stored in the gamingdevice 120, the casino server 112, and/or the central controller 103.

In some embodiments, a first code is created such that it containsconfiguration information. However, the code may be very long,especially if there are many features that can be customized. Therefore,a second code may be created by compressing the first code according toa compression algorithm. Numerous compression algorithms for a sequenceof bits or numerals are known in the art. When the gaming device 120later receives the second code, it may reverse the compression algorithmto recover the first code and to deduce the configuration informationfrom the first code. Of course, the casino server 112 or centralcontroller 103 may perform the function of reversing the compression.

A particular configuration may be associated with a particular player.Thus, information about the player may be sufficient for a gaming device120 to obtain configuration information. For example, a player's namemay be stored in a database corresponding to a particular configuration.When the player later enters his name into a gaming device 120 (perhapsvia his player tracking card), the gaming device 120 may find theplayer's name in the database and thereby obtain the correspondingconfiguration. Other player characteristics may be associated in adatabase with configurations. A player's biometric data, such as voicedata, retinal scan data, or finger print data may be associated with aparticular configuration. When a player subsequently provides biometricdata to a gaming device 120, the gaming device 120 may look up the datain the configuration database to determine the player's preferredconfiguration.

A preparation code may take the form of a bar code, or any othermachine-readable code. The player may then print out the bar code fromhis user terminal 106. When the player subsequently inserts the bar codeinto a gaming device 120, the gaming device may obtain the player'scustomized configuration.

In some embodiments, a player may specify his own code to be associatedwith a particular configuration. For example, a player may label aconfiguration using easy to remember terms such as “samurai,” or “BigJackpot,” or “xyz.” In some embodiments, a preparation code may onlydescribe particular features that a player has selected. Other featuresmay then take on default values. For example, if a player has onlyselected the number of reels, a code might read “NR5,” where “NR” standsfor “number of reels,” and “5” indicates the desired number. Since thecode does not describe other features, these may take on default values.

C. Transmit the Configuration Data and Preparation Code to a CasinoServer

Once a preparation code has been associated with a particularconfiguration, the code and the configuration data may be transmitted toa casino server 112, and/or a gaming device 120. Transmission may occurvia the Internet, email, phone, fax, or any other mode of communication.In some embodiments, the code and preparation data are transmittedimmediately after they have been generated. In other embodiments, agaming device 120 may only receive configuration data after a player hasentered a code, and the gaming device 120 has sent the code to thecasino server 112 and/or the central controller 102.

In embodiments where a preparation code contains information about agaming device configuration, the central controller 102 need notnecessarily transmit both configuration data and the preparation code,since a gaming device 120 or casino server 112 may be able to derive onefrom the other according to predefined rules.

D. Receive the Preparation Code at the Casino Server from a GamingDevice

Next, the system waits for a configuration request from a player. When aplayer sits down at a gaming device 120, he may enter his preparationcode in order to have the gaming device assume the player's preferredfeatures. The player may enter the code in a number of ways including:keying in the code via a keypad or touch screen, speaking the code intoa microphone, whereby it is interpreted using voice recognitionsoftware, inserting a bar code into the gaming device 120, insertinginto the gaming device 120 a magnetic strip containing the code,inserting into the gaming device 120 a floppy disc, CD, DVD or otherstorage medium containing the code, and/or wirelessly transmitting thecode to the gaming device 120 using player device 512 such as a cellphone, PDA, two-way pager, or other communications device.

If the gaming device 120 cannot interpret the code, the gaming device120 may transmit the code to the casino server 112 and/or to the centralcontroller 102. The casino server 112 or central controller 103 may thenlook up the code in a preparation code database 1200 such as thatdepicted in FIG. 12, and may retrieve the corresponding configurationinformation.

E. Configure the Gaming Device Based on the Configuration DataCorresponding to the Preparation Code

The configuration data retrieved from the casino server 112 and/or thecentral controller 102, is transmitted to the gaming device so that itcan configure itself accordingly. In some embodiments described above,the gaming device 120 already has all the information it needs toself-configure upon initially receiving the preparation code from theplayer. Thus, in some embodiments, these final steps are not necessaryto complete the methods described herein.

Yet additional embodiments generally relevant to addressing problemsassociated with compulsive gambling follow:

Operating a game machine may be a form of prescribed therapy for aproblem gambler. For example, a third party such as a gambling counselorfor a player may determine a script of outcomes that is particularlytempting for a player (e.g., a series of near-wins) and may register thescript in association with a particular player. This script may then bemade retrievable by or downloaded to gaming machines so that it may beused to govern the operation of a game machine in training mode. As theplayer operates the game machine in training mode, the script ofoutcomes may tempt the player to make poor decisions (e.g., betirrationally large amounts of money on losing outcomes). By recognizingthe circumstances in which he makes poor decisions, a player may be ableto avoid gambling problems in the future. Providing this sort of therapyto a player in a real casino may prove especially effective because itaccurately simulates the environment and temptations that a playerexperiences when gaming. A player who signs up for this sort of gamingtherapy may be aware that a therapy script is running on the gamemachine, or the player may be unaware which outcomes on the game machineare part of a script (e.g., a “test” from his gambling counselor toverify that he is indeed making good decisions) and which are realoutcomes.

A player may be encouraged to talk to a game machine while gaming andverbally provide explanations of his gaming behavior. For example, aplayer might say, “I'm going to deposit another $20 because I think thatthis game machine is due to pay out.” Forcing a player to verbalize hisgaming decisions may help to make a player more conscious of thedecisions that he is making and thereby avoid addictive behavior. Inaddition, a player's verbalizations may be recorded by the game machinefor later transmission to and review by a third party, such as gamingcounselor, casino operators, regulators, etc. It is anticipated thatrecordings of this sort from the casino floor may provide betterinsights into the psyche of a problem gambler than interviews withplayers in focus groups or in a therapist's office. In one embodiment, arecording of a player talking about gaming may be played back to theplayer himself as a reminder (e.g., “This is what you said 1 hour ago .. . ”, or “This is what you look like right now.”).

In order to continue gaming, a player may be required to performtherapeutic activities on the casino floor. For example, a player may berequired to participate in phone calls to third parties such ascounselors, friends or loved ones, watch self-help videos, or stopgaming briefly for meals or bathroom breaks. A player who neglects orrefuses to perform these therapeutic activities may be barred fromfurther gaming.

IX. Rules of Interpretation

Numerous embodiments are described in this patent application, and arepresented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments arenot, and are not intended to be, limiting in any sense. The presentlydisclosed invention(s) are widely applicable to numerous embodiments, asis readily apparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that the disclosed invention(s) may be practiced withvarious modifications and alterations, such as structural, logical,software, and electrical modifications. Although particular features ofthe disclosed invention(s) may be described with reference to one ormore particular embodiments and/or drawings, it should be understoodthat such features are not limited to usage in the one or moreparticular embodiments or drawings with reference to which they aredescribed, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The present disclosure is neither a literal description of allembodiments nor a listing of features of the invention that must bepresent in all embodiments.

Neither the Title (set forth at the beginning of the first page of thispatent application) nor the Abstract (set forth at the end of thispatent application) is to be taken as limiting in any way as the scopeof the disclosed invention(s).

The term “product” means any machine, manufacture and/or composition ofmatter as contemplated by 35 U.S.C. §101, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, “one embodiment” and the like mean “one or more (but notall) disclosed embodiments”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

A reference to “another embodiment” in describing an embodiment does notimply that the referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive with anotherembodiment (e.g., an embodiment described before the referencedembodiment), unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising” and variations thereof mean“including but not limited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise.

The term “plurality” means “two or more”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The term “herein” means “in the present application, including anythingwhich may be incorporated by reference”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The phrase “at least one of”, when such phrase modifies a plurality ofthings (such as an enumerated list of things) means any combination ofone or more of those things, unless expressly specified otherwise. Forexample, the phrase at least one of a widget, a car and a wheel meanseither (i) a widget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car,(v) a widget and a wheel, (vi) a car and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, acar and a wheel.

The phrase “based on” does not mean “based only on”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. In other words, the phrase “based on” describesboth “based only on” and “based at least on”.

The term “whereby” is used herein only to precede a clause or other setof words that express only the intended result, objective or consequenceof something that is previously and explicitly recited. Thus, when theterm “whereby” is used in a claim, the clause or other words that theterm “whereby” modifies do not establish specific further limitations ofthe claim or otherwise restricts the meaning or scope of the claim.

Where a limitation of a first claim would cover one of a feature as wellas more than one of a feature (e.g., a limitation such as “at least onewidget” covers one widget as well as more than one widget), and where ina second claim that depends on the first claim, the second claim uses adefinite article “the” to refer to the limitation (e.g., “the widget”),this does not imply that the first claim covers only one of the feature,and this does not imply that the second claim covers only one of thefeature (e.g., “the widget” can cover both one widget and more than onewidget).

Each process (whether called a method, algorithm or otherwise)inherently includes one or more steps, and therefore all references to a“step” or “steps” of a process have an inherent antecedent basis in themere recitation of the term ‘process’ or a like term. Accordingly, anyreference in a claim to a ‘step’ or ‘steps’ of a process has sufficientantecedent basis.

When an ordinal number (such as “first”, “second”, “third” and so on) isused as an adjective before a term, that ordinal number is used (unlessexpressly specified otherwise) merely to indicate a particular feature,such as to distinguish that particular feature from another feature thatis described by the same term or by a similar term. For example, a“first widget” may be so named merely to distinguish it from, e.g., a“second widget”. Thus, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers “first” and“second” before the term “widget” does not indicate any otherrelationship between the two widgets, and likewise does not indicate anyother characteristics of either or both widgets. For example, the mereusage of the ordinal numbers “first” and “second” before the term“widget” (1) does not indicate that either widget comes before or afterany other in order or location; (2) does not indicate that either widgetoccurs or acts before or after any other in time; and (3) does notindicate that either widget ranks above or below any other, as inimportance or quality. In addition, the mere usage of ordinal numbersdoes not define a numerical limit to the features identified with theordinal numbers. For example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers“first” and “second” before the term “widget” does not indicate thatthere must be no more than two widgets.

When a single device or article is described herein, more than onedevice or article (whether or not they cooperate) may alternatively beused in place of the single device or article that is described.Accordingly, the functionality that is described as being possessed by adevice may alternatively be possessed by more than one device or article(whether or not they cooperate).

Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein(whether or not they cooperate), a single device or article mayalternatively be used in place of the more than one device or articlethat is described. For example, a plurality of computer-based devicesmay be substituted with a single computer-based device. Accordingly, thevarious functionality that is described as being possessed by more thanone device or article may alternatively be possessed by a single deviceor article.

The functionality and/or the features of a single device that isdescribed may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devicesthat are described but are not explicitly described as having suchfunctionality and/or features. Thus, other embodiments need not includethe described device itself, but rather can include the one or moreother devices which would, in those other embodiments, have suchfunctionality/features.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit to eachother as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine incommunication with another machine via the Internet may not transmitdata to the other machine for weeks at a time. In addition, devices thatare in communication with each other may communicate directly orindirectly through one or more intermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components or features doesnot imply that all or even any of such components and/or features arerequired. On the contrary, a variety of optional components aredescribed to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of thepresent invention(s). Unless otherwise specified explicitly, nocomponent and/or feature is essential or required.

Further, although process steps, algorithms or the like may be describedin a sequential order, such processes may be configured to work indifferent orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps thatmay be explicitly described does not necessarily indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processesdescribed herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, somesteps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or impliedas occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is describedafter the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to theinvention, and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.

Although a process may be described as including a plurality of steps,that does not indicate that all or even any of the steps are essentialor required. Various other embodiments within the scope of the describedinvention(s) include other processes that omit some or all of thedescribed steps. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no step isessential or required.

Although a product may be described as including a plurality ofcomponents, aspects, qualities, characteristics and/or features, thatdoes not indicate that all of the plurality are essential or required.Various other embodiments within the scope of the described invention(s)include other products that omit some or all of the described plurality.

An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does notimply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. Likewise, an enumerated list of items(which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of theitems are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. For example, the enumerated list “a computer, a laptop, aPDA” does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list aremutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three itemsof that list are comprehensive of any category.

Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the titleof this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

“Determining” something can be performed in a variety of manners andtherefore the term “determining” (and like terms) includes calculating,computing, deriving, looking up (e.g., in a table, database or datastructure), ascertaining and the like.

It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithmsdescribed herein may be implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmedgeneral purpose computers and computing devices. Typically a processor(e.g., one or more microprocessors) will receive instructions from amemory or like device, and execute those instructions, therebyperforming one or more processes defined by those instructions. Further,programs that implement such methods and algorithms may be stored andtransmitted using a variety of media (e.g., computer readable media) ina number of manners. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or customhardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, softwareinstructions for implementation of the processes of various embodiments.Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specific combination ofhardware and software

A “processor” means any one or more microprocessors, CPU devices,computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or likedevices.

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read bya computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may take manyforms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media,and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, opticalor magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media includeDRAM, which typically constitutes the main memory. Transmission mediainclude coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including thewires that comprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmissionmedia may include or convey acoustic waves, light waves andelectromagnetic emissions, such as those generated during RF and IR datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, forexample, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punchcards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, aRAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carryingsequences of instructions to a processor. For example, sequences ofinstruction (i) may be delivered from RAM to a processor, (ii) may becarried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or (iii) may beformatted according to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such asBluetooth™, TDMA, CDMA, 3G.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations ordescriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrativearrangements for stored representations of information. Any number ofother arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g.,tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustratedentries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those described herein. Further,despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats(including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases) could be used to store and manipulate the data typesdescribed herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a databasecan be used to implement various processes, such as the describedherein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device that accesses data in such a database.

Some embodiments can be configured to work in a network environmentincluding a computer that is in communication, via a communicationsnetwork, with one or more devices. The computer may communicate with thedevices directly or indirectly, via a wired or wireless medium such asthe Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, or via any appropriatecommunications means or combination of communications means. Each of thedevices may comprise computers, such as those based on the Intel®Pentium® or Centrino™ processor, that are adapted to communicate withthe computer. Any number and type of machines may be in communicationwith the computer.

The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art, anenabling description of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some ofthese embodiments and/or inventions may not be claimed in the presentapplication, but may nevertheless be claimed in one or more continuingapplications that claim the benefit of priority of the presentapplication. Applicants intend to file additional applications to pursuepatents for subject matter that has been disclosed and enabled but notclaimed in the present disclosure.

1. A method, comprising: receiving an indication of a gaming ruleassociated with a player, wherein the gaming rule is defined by a thirdparty and wherein the gaming rule permits the player to execute a gameplay governed by at least one gaming limit; receiving an indication of arequest to execute the game play for the player; determining that thegame play is compliant with the at least one gaming limit; and executingthe game play.